


Icarus

by Safeathome



Category: Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage AU, F/M, Riverdale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-05-23 05:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14928125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Safeathome/pseuds/Safeathome
Summary: Veronica has never met Forsythe Pendleton Jones III personally, but he had always belonged to her in the back of her mind. She knew close to nothing about him but figured that had meant nothing when you're already engaged. She had known about the contract since she was a little girl and Forsythe Jones had forever stayed tucked away in the back of her mind as a constant reminder of the kind of future she would have.Or, Veronica ventures into the den of a Serpent.





	1. Chapter One: Return to Riverdale

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a taste of what I’m hoping is going to be a great fanfic, enjoy!

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance, it presents itself like many other small towns all over the world. Safe. Decent. Innocent. Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath. The name of our town is Riverdale. And our story begins, I guess, with what the Cooper sisters did this summer._

_On the 4th of July, just after dawn, Polly and Betty Cooper drove out to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride. The next thing we know for sure happened is that Dilton Doiley, who was leading Riverdale's Boy Scout troop on a bird watching expedition, came upon Betty by the river's edge. The police dragged Sweetwater River for Polly's body but never found it._

_So a week later, the Cooper family buried an empty casket and Polly's death was ruled an accident, as the story that Betty told made the rounds._

_That Polly had dropped her umbrella into the water, and she reached down to get it, and accidentally tipped the boat, and panicked, and drowned._

_And for us, we were still talking about the "July Fourth Tragedy" on the last day of summer vacation, when a new mystery rolled into town._

_Her name was Veronica Lodge and for as long as I can remember, she and I have been engaged._

________

     Hiram and Hermione Lodge had spent their youth in the Southside of Riverdale before eloping to New York, where they had built an ever growing empire. Despite their business ventures, they moved back to their hometown for reasons known to only a select group of people, a contract signed years ago that sealed the fate of their only daughter. 

The contract was simple. Veronica Valentine Lodge, in the month after her 16th birthday, would marry Forsythe Pendleton Jones III in order to uphold Southside Serpent tradition. Both the Jones and Lodge family had been members of the Serpents dating back to the very start of the gang, and their great-great grandfathers, who were best friends, had promised that their children would marry each other.

Unfortunately for them, they both had boys, who had all boys, who had all boys and by the time Veronica was born, the chance that the promise between those two men was ever going to be fulfilled was slim. Still, Veronica was born a girl and that damned her more than anything.

So, three weeks after Veronica's 16th birthday (and one week before her wedding), the Lodge family rolls into town in their Rolls-Royce, to continue the life that was left behind but not forgotten. After all, a Serpent never sheds its skin.

________

     Veronica has never met Forsythe Pendleton Jones III personally, but he had always belonged to her in the back of her mind. She knew close to nothing about him but figured that had meant nothing when you're already engaged. She had known about the contract since she was a little girl and Forsythe Jones had forever stayed tucked away in the back of her mind as a constant reminder of the kind of future she would have.

And although she was engaged, that didn't stop her from suddenly becoming nervous when a hot, dark, and mysterious boy had fixed his brooding gaze upon her as she crossed the threshold of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe.

He was typing on his laptop, a strawberry shake and a few baskets of fries and onion rings scattered haphazardly around him on the table. He had looked so concentrated on whatever it was that he was typing that if the bell above the door hadn't dinged so suddenly and so loudly, he probably wouldn't have noticed her entering, pulling the hood of her black cape off, and looking directly at him. 

Jughead recognizes her almost immediately. His father had told him she would be in town sometime this week and that he should be cordial, or, in his fathers words ,'don't be a dick to her.' 

After a few seconds of staring at her, a look of recognition washes over his face, leaving her utterly confused. _Who was this boy?_

Her chance to find out came in the form of a round old man wearing what seemed to be the diner uniform with a badge reading "Pop Tate", talking to the patrons just behind the boy's booth. She glides forward to meet him.

"I called in an order, for Lodge?" She confirms his accurate identification of her.

"Three burgers, yeah, almost ready, but you gotta wait." He hurries off into the kitchen, leaving Veronica alone and awkward in front of the mystery boy, of whom was watching their interaction discreetly, and his booth. 

"Hi." She smiles and takes on a shy look that makes him think she must have had many eligible suitors in New York.

"Hey." He looks up at her questioningly and if she's bothered by his surprised tone, she doesn't show it. Instead she looks around for a subject to talk about, settling for his favorite subject, food.

"How are the onion rings here?" She asks and he looks down as if realizing for the first time that he'd even ordered them.

"They're the best you'll ever taste." He says sincerely and for some odd reason, Veronica trusts him enough to believe its true.

"Can we get some onion rings, too, please?," Pop Tate nods in agreement and sets the cook to work on those and Veronica thanks him.

"So, do you go to Riverdale?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm a sophomore there." Veronica wonders briefly if he knows her fiancé, but quickly banished the thought. 

"Me too. I just moved here from New York with my parents," she says with another dazzling smile, "and already I'm kind of dreading school tomorrow."

"Why is that?," this comment intrigued him for obvious reasons. Did she not want to meet him?

"Are you familiar with the works of Truman Capote?" She doesn't know it, but she's impressing him already, "I'm _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ , but this place is strictly _In Cold Blood_." 

He let's out a small yet surprising, baritone laugh that makes Veronica feel a little weak in the knees. 

"Veronica Lodge." She sticks out her hand for him to take.

"Nice to meet you, Veronica." He takes her hand and she marvels at how strong his grip on her is.

 "Order for Lodge." Pop calls out to her from the register. 

"Oh, that's me. I've got to go, my parents are waiting," She turns but then, almost as if she's forgotten something important, looks back at him, "I never got your name?"

"Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, but you can call me Jughead." He says as he watches her dainty mouth drop.

________

     Veronica isn't particularly religious but when she hears his name, she stops in her tracks and swears to any god that can hear her that she could just die right there in that diner.

Instead, she composes herself quickly and in spite of herself, continues to walk, cape swishing around her, until she's paid her bill and is almost out the door with her order.

"Nice to meet you, Jughead." And with those departing words and a pull of her hood back over her face, Veronica Lodge disappears into the night.


	2. Chapter Two: Welcome to Riverdale High

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Riverdale or any of the characters within this story, only the plot.

     A boy named Kevin Keller gives Veronica a tour of Riverdale High the day following the diner incident. She had went home last night and breathed not a single word to her parents about what happened due to the sheer embarrassment she felt at meeting her fiancé in such a casual manner. Her parents tell her to look for him during the school day, have lunch with him and be nice. She blushes something fierce when she thinks about it and Kevin, finished with his welcoming review of the history of the school, asks her if she's alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a little stuffy in here." She lies, "You were saying?"

He doesn't drone on for much longer before she finds a much more interesting topic to talk about.

"So what's the social scene like here? Any night clubs?" Veronica hasn't been clubbing for a good two months and was suffering from serious withdraws. _Maybe she could convince her fiancé to come?_

"A strip club called the Ho Zone and a tragic gay bar called Innuendo. Friday nights, football games and then tailgate parties at the Mallmart parking lot. Saturday night is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou, and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale.

"The kids here are All-American, strictly vanilla, they like to act pure and wholesome, but really they're all a little screwed up. I'm pretty much the resident gay, but I'm sure there are plenty more closeted kids around here, I've got a pretty good gaydar when it comes to these things." He jokes and she laughs airily but he immediately becomes intense and weirdly excited, "So, is it true about your families affiliation with the Southside Serpents?"

Veronica tenses, not expecting him to be so blunt about things, and Kevin yelps as he is dragged into the nearest girls bathroom. He tries to speak but is hushed as Veronica checks all the stalls to make sure their conversation stays private.

"How do you know about that? And how much do you know?" She demands quietly, standing as close to him as she deemed fit for an interrogation. She hadn't planned on anyone knowing her secrets just yet.

"I also happen to be the resident Secret Keeper here at the Riverdale rumor mill, everyone always wants to tell the gay guy everything," he sounds exasperated and rolls his eyes as he thinks about all of the secrets he keeps because everyone wants to have a 'gay best friend', "And I don't know much, although I'd like to. They're just whispers and rumors, nothing to bug out about."

"Secret keeper, huh?" She looks him up and down for a second, contemplating whether he was trustworthy or not. She realizes that her secret will come out soon and having someone who knows things like Kevin by her side would definitely be useful in navigating the social scene here. She decides to trust him, for now. "Okay, I'll bite, but you have to keep this under wraps."

"Duh!" Kevin nods his head eagerly and a look of interest spreads over his face.

"Do you know a boy that goes by the name of Jughead Jones?" He nods again and runs through his personal database for any piece of information on him.

"Jughead Jones, sophomore, lives alone with his amazingly hot father, rides a Honda cb550 motorcycle (my father pointed it out once), writer of the schools paper along with Betty Cooper- I'm missing something," He looks down, and thinks long and hard about any detail he could've missed. Abruptly, he looks up and snaps his fingers, "Known member of the Southside Serpents!"

Kevin looks proud of himself but also looks to her in confusion, "What's he gotta do with you?"

Veronica takes the time to explain to him about their families history and the arrangement made by their fathers between Jughead and herself. Kevin's facial expression changes throughout her story but she makes him hold his questions till the very end.

"So you've been engaged to him for, what, nearly all your life?" He sounds shocked.

"Yep."

"And Jughead is some kind of, what, _Southside Royalty_?" He sounds disbelieving at this one but is all the same enthralled by her revelations.

"More or less." She weighs the thought, _He's going to be the Serpent King one day anyways, right?_

"And you're _actually_ going to marry Jughead Jones this Saturday?"

"Of course. A Lodge never breaks a promise. And besides, he can't be that bad, right?" Veronica becomes uneasy at her own question, scanning Kevin's face in anticipation for his response.

"Well, Jughead is... a little rough around the edges, to say the least. Don't get me wrong he's a great guy but it's just... he's like..." Kevin stops and thinks for a second, "... he's like the Holden Caulfield of Riverdale."

He says this as if it provides an answer for all her questions and then pats her back sympathetically.

"Ah, I see." She pretends to understand while contemplating her next move. "Do you happen to know which class he has next?"

"No. But, I do know where his locker is if that helps any. It's right next to Betty's, the poor thing." Her name is spoken with pity and Veronica wonders what happened to Betty to make Kevin go all misty eyed like this.

"What happened to Betty?"

"Her sister, Polly, drowned in a boating accident on the Fourth of July. They never found a body but they had a funeral and everything. It's the biggest tragedy to happen to Riverdale in a long, long time. You'll find out more at the assembly next period." Kevin leads the way out of the girls bathroom and points her in the direction of Jughead's locker. She thanks him and sends him on his way just as the bell rings.

________

 

     Jughead Jones, upon returning to his locker to get his books for AP Psyche, is surprised to find one Veronica Lodge leaning against it, small pink box in hand and a group of football players lurking about, trying to impress her. He finds smugness in the way that she seems totally unimpressed by the way they casually mention the upcoming state-championships or the hours they spend building muscles for it.

She sends them off when she sees him standing at the back of the crowd around his locker, clad in a leather jacket with a green snake splayed across the back of it and the same crown beanie from yesterday.

"Hi." She immediately looks flushed.

"Hey." His tone is casual as he opens his locker, sifting through books to find the right one. "Did you need something?"

"I got you this. It's sort of like- I don't know, a gift I thought you might like. Something to ease the tension of meeting you for the first time, although I guess that's a little too late now." She hands him the box regardless, and inside he finds two cupcakes, finely decorated and strawberry smelling,  "I was thinking that we should talk. I mean, in less than a week, that is happening. And I want to get to know you."

"Thank you, Veronica, this is really nice of you." Jughead understands what 'that' is and admits to himself that he should probably get to know her before the whole 'death do you part' thing. He usually has lunch alone with his laptop, working on homework or the Blue and Gold. He doesn't mind the solitude and strange looks he receives from his peers, but he wouldn't mind her company either.

"Don't mention it. So, Lunch?"

"Yeah, Can I see your schedule?" She has most of her classes with him except for her French class when he has Spanish.

"French?"

"I'm fluent in Spanish." It makes sense that she was a Latina, her caramel colored skin was something of an exotic beauty here in Riverdale.

"Ah I see. It looks like we have all of our classes together, besides French, and we can just go to lunch after fourth period together, if not, I'll save you a seat." He hands her schedule back to her and an announcement comes over the intercom for the assembly. Damn, he had forgotten about that. He shoves his books back into his locker, carefully placing his cupcake box on top of them so they don’t get smashed.

Slowly, students gravitate towards the gym and fill the bleachers. A raven haired couple sits itself front and center, as Betty Cooper takes a stand at the podium.

________

 

     The assembly does not pass without a few tears. Apparently, Polly Cooper was a very popular girl. Betty Cooper's eyes, though, stay dry. She is the picture of strength and serenity as she tells everyone not to cry for her sister, but instead to celebrate her life with the semi-formal that they were planning on cancelling.

Some of the students rejoice and others continue on with their sorrowful faces. Many of them hug each other or wipe silent tears. And, among people who have grown up with each other, Veronica Lodge feels like an outsider. Unbeknownst to her, her fiancé does too.

With everyone in the room taking on a woeful attitude, Jughead sits there with a sad look on his face but his wary eyes tell a different story. _Why doesn't Betty Cooper cry? Am I the only one seeing this?_ He finds it mildly suspicious but figures that everyone mourns in a different way.

After the assembly is over, it's 4th period for them, then lunch. The English Teacher, Ms. Hagen, is nice enough, she's probably in her mid 50s and has a warm smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes. She gives them an in-class writing assignment to share in small groups, about something that gives them nostalgia.

For Jughead, it's a small box of vinyl records that his mother had once owned. She used to dance around with him in their living room in a much simpler time in his life. Veronica can see and feel his story in the air, she knows that good stories are like that.

When the lunch bell rings, Jughead runs to his Locker to retrieve his pink gift box before ushering Veronica into the cafeteria to grab lunch and then to sit at his usual table in the corner of the room. This table goes unnoticed most of the time but now that she sits there, all eyes are on them and Kevin decides to sit, consequently bringing Betty and a redhead she's never met before over.

"Hey Jug." The redhead sits in-between Betty and Jughead, and across from Veronica and Kevin at the round table.

He sticks out a hand for her to shake, "My name is Jason Blossom and this is my girlfriend, Betty."

"Nice to meet you both. Veronica Lodge." She turns to Betty, hoping that maybe she could make friends with her, "I hear you're the River Vixen's co-HBIC, are you guys holding tryouts?"

Betty also sticks her hand out, relieved that at she didn't bring up her sister, "Tryouts are this Thursday if you're interested, I hope you can make it. We'd love to have more pretty girls on the squad."

"I'll be there." Smiling, she takes the compliment but doesn't dwell on it too long.

"Hey, you can meet my twin sister Cheryl at the tryouts, too! She’s the other HBIC. She usually hangs out with us but is busy with something or other... So, what's a girl like you doing hanging out with _Juggiekins_?" Jason playfully side elbows Jughead, who scowls right back. Betty looks disapprovingly at her boyfriend but still looks at her for an answer.

"I'm not so sure myself." She admits, "but we've been getting along quite nicely."

Jughead appreciates that she didn't reveal what she was really doing in Riverdale. After this Saturday, things would be different than they are today, and he's already decided that he'd like this week to the calm before the storm. Mentioning the wedding would be a buzzkill for the light mood they had going here.

Changing the subject, he decides now is the time to open the pink box of cupcakes, he takes one out and at the behest of Veronica, takes a bite. Before he even finishes the bite, you can tell he's in absolute heaven. A proud beam comes from Veronica, "They're amazing aren't they?"

Jughead takes another bite and nods his head because his mouth is full. She laughs heartily and watches as he devours both cupcakes.

“I’m in love with you already, Lodge.” She rolls her eyes and engages in Kevin’s conversation about the upcoming dance.

The group continue to talk and they set a date tonight as a little welcoming dinner for Veronica at Pop's, and after the insisting of Betty, Jughead agrees to show face. He'd promised his father to not be a dick and not showing up for his fiancés dinner tonight would definitely be a dick move.

_____

 

     Jughead sits on the same side of the booth as Veronica at dinner that night. Now assessing the situation, it was a little weird to have a girl he had dreamt about all his life, finally sitting next to him as if she'd been there all along. He feels weirdly comfortable, though, as if the past few years leading up to this week were spent in her company instead of alone. He studies her and notices the way she scowls at him when he steals a few fries from her basket but moves it closer to him anyways.

She stiffens when his arm goes around her and over the back of the booth but relaxes just as quick. If anything, she moves the tiniest bit closer to him, changing her posture so she's now leaning towards him.

Jughead thinks for a fleeting moment that it would be easy to fall in love with someone like her. She keeps up in conversation with him, knowing almost every outlandish book or movie or quote that the others usually don't understand. Veronica is quick and graceful with her words, nothing she says is unclear or indecisive and he likes that he doesn't have to analyze her because she conveys exactly what she means to say.

He soon realizes that her body movements are just the same her speech as he sits in on the River Vixen tryouts on Thursday. When it's her turn to perform, it becomes increasingly known that her spot on the team is a given. Unlike Cheryl Blossom, who dances a tired routine, Veronica's dance is graceful and seductively passionate as she moves with fluidity on the blue mats of the gym floor.

Veronica gets in, of course, much to the dismay of Cheryl Blossom. In the far back of the bleachers, she can see Jughead Jones and she smiles up at him.  
________

     After tryouts, Jughead congratulates her and offers to take Veronica home. He drove his pickup truck most of the days this week instead of his infamous motorcycle, mainly because he still didn't have a second helmet for anyone else to ride with him and Mr. Lodge chastised him for giving Veronica his to wear for the short ride from Pop's to the Pembrooke.

"Hey, Hermione! Look who it is! It's FP the third." Apparently, Hiram and Hermione had been out checking on last minute details for Saturday when they arrived home at the same time as Veronica. Stepping out of the car, Hiram shakes Jughead's hand before pulling him into an embrace.

"Oh my, what a handsome boy! He looks just like FP." Hermione Lodge also pulls him into her arms, "We are so sorry that we haven't had time to come by, Forsythe, we've already caught up with your father but somehow kept missing you."

"It's alright, Mrs. Lodge, I know how busy you must be. Please, call me Jughead, Forsythe is a little too formal me. Veronica and I have just been getting to know each other for a little bit before Saturday." Hiram and Hermione stand close together, smiling.

"Well I guess since we should call you Jughead, all formalities should go off the table, we're all family here! You can call us Hiram and Hermione or tio and tia or maybe even Dad and Mom if you feel like it." Hiram Lodge’s rambling and friendly manner unnerves Jughead more than soothes him. He knows Mr. Lodge's reputation as a cold-hearted business man and wonders if this good-natured man is the same person.

Jughead settles for "tio and tia" but only because they were short and less awkward than "mom and dad."

"But Jughead," the name sounds foreign in his mouth as he takes on a shady undertone, "I can't help but notice that you didn't have a helmet when you pulled up. What if you had gotten into an accident? All these plans gone to waste because you weren't wearing a simple helmet?"

Jughead had this stern feeling in his gut that mad him think that Mr. Lodge wasn't just talking about the wedding.

"Oh, Daddy," Veronica sounds charmingly exasperated, "It was just the short distance from Pop's. Nothing to worry about."

After she and her mother say there quick goodbyes, Veronica starts to guide her parents inside, talking a mile a minute in smooth Spanish.

"Okay, Okay, Mija," Hiram stops in his tracks and looks back at Jughead with a smile that seemed a little to pained to be real, "Get that helmet, Jughead. We can't have you getting hurt now, can we?"

There was enough danger in his tone to make Jughead's pickup truck his vehicle of choice for the rest of the week in case she may need a ride.

Veronica agrees to his offer and sets her bags down on the pavement.

"Thanks, that'd be nice. But I have to talk to Betty really quickly first!" She dashes over to where Betty is waiting for Jason to be done with football practice and talks animatedly for a few seconds before hugging her briefly and making her way back over to where Jughead is busy putting her bags in his truck.

In a singsong voice, Veronica teases him with one of her many nicknames for him, "Thanks, _Juggiekins_."

"No problem, Ronnie."  He doesn't mind, in fact, he finds that he likes when she teases him or banters back and forth with him. "So, now that you've been accepted as part of an elitist social group, I guess I won't be seeing you around anymore, huh kid?"

"No, No, you aren't getting away from me that easy, Juggiekins, I intend to be here for a very, very long time." She pulls her legs up onto the seat and folds them under her, “and stop calling me kid, we’re the same age.”

"Damn. I was so close." Mock disappointment fills his voice and a reckless smile graces his face.

"...About this weekend, how are you feeling? We haven't really talked much about it and I guess now is as good a time as any." Jughead can tell he catches her off guard by the way she shifts ever-so-slightly in her seat but keeps his eyes on the road.

"I'm actually just glad that all I have to do is show up. My parents have had people planning this for a few months now so really, the only thing left for me to do is show up and look pretty," She looks at him and gauges his reaction.

"Which, I'm sure you'll do exceedingly well at." He compliments her on the sly, glancing sideways at her and her heart starts to beat faster in her chest.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to seduce me." She quips, "Sorry Jones, I'm a taken woman."

"He's a lucky man, Ms. Lodge." She laughs in agreement and shoves him playfully. They spend the rest of the ride going back and forth with their wordplay and when Jughead Jones finally drops her off with and heads to the Wyrm, he feels an odd sense of peace.

A feeling that is fleeting as he walks into an uneasy atmosphere with Hiram Lodge standing directly in the middle of it.  
________

  
     "You've been playing the Serpents for too long, Ms. Peabody. Drugs are a dirty business and, quite frankly, one that we don't need to have association with anymore." Hiram towers over Penny Peabody, a pretty but rough looking blonde, who is tied to a chair in the basement of the Whyte Wyrm. "I was considering letting you go without all of this mess, but...then you tried to kill me.

"With a bunch of kids, no less! I-It's- It’s insulting!" His face becomes red and a vein pops out in his neck. He takes the time to loosen his collar and sleeves, rolling them up. She had made the mistake of hiring the Ghoulies to take care of him when he told her the serpents weren't working for her anymore.  He escaped with more bruises on his ego than his body. He looks at her with fury, she starts to whimper and he speaks softly instead, “I’m sorry, I know I must seem like I’m losing control here, very unprofessional. Wait here while my colleagues and I converse.”

FP Jones stands behind him with Hermione when he turns around, conversing fervently in a corner, he goes to join them until FP finally comes up with a solution and steps forward.

"We can't kill her. She's a Serpent, it's law." FP considers her as he paces back and forth.

"I'm well aware of the Laws, Forsythe! But she broke 'em first! You're the leader! You should handle these things!" Hiram turns on him and demands he do something. He'd been on his ass since he came and FP was getting annoyed.

"Fuck! Fine! You know what we'll do?" He takes out a silenced pistol, pointing it at Penny Peabody, whose body convulses as she realizes what he's about to do. She's trying to scream through her gag but instead it creates an animalistic sound that sickens Hermione, who closes her eyes at the scene.

The blonde’s eyes are wide with terror and then her muffled screams tear out through the room, then a single gunshot, and then silence.

"Let's clean her up and get her outta here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missing a certain redhead hottie? Yeah, me too.


	3. Chapter Three: The Silver Serpent

     "Let's clean her up and get her outta here." FP looks away from her slumped body, visibly uncomfortable with the fact that he had to leave her alive. She had passed out from the pain, but should make a full recovery after they remove the bullet and bandage her.

Neither Hiram nor FP make a move at the suggestion, assessing the situation to the best of their abilities in their current state.

"A little less permanent than I would have liked, but I think you made the right choice, FP. Don't think about it too much. Guilt has a way of taking over the mind." Hiram speaks from experience. These kinds of things were normal in illegal dealings, after all. "Never lose sight of the bigger picture, amigo, it's an eye for an eye in this world. The end will justify the means."

The words echo on in Forsythe's mind, etched permanently into the inner workings of his brain. He knows that his best friend can tend to have a one track mind when it comes to whatever goal he has his heart set on; a goal he'll stop at nothing to achieve. Well aware of this fact, he still makes the decision to put his trust in Hiram, and prays he isn't wrong in doing so.

"This- This is good...This is great, actually, now she can run back to her little friends and tell them that the Serpents are done messing around." Recovering from her sudden nausea, Hermione quickly becomes the logical member of this trio. She turns to the men, "We should inform the Serpents."

The trio share a look, one that had been passed between them countless times in their lives, one that means nothing and everything all at once. They were three separate parts of a united front, they were best friends who had lived the same scarred childhood and sought to rise above it.

FP orders a Serpent meeting.  
________

 

     "What do you mean we won't be doing business with Peabody anymore?!" The singular voice becomes outraged, she steps forward to look Hiram in the eyes, "She's how most of us get paid! We've got families to feed, Pretty Boy, and you cut it off with her because it's 'bad for Serpent reputation'?"

Another voice is anguished, "FP, please! I've got no other way to pay my sons medical bills!"

FP listens to the problems of his clan and they become increasingly loud and more demanding. He just needs them to listen, "Calm down, everyone!"

"Cállate!" Hiram Lodge fires a single shot into the air like the Wyrm was some kind of old western saloon full of outlaws and bandits. The outlaws and bandits part wasn't actually far off from the crowd of rugged looking people wrapped in black leather jackets. The room fills with silence and conflict.

The large door to the Wyrm opens and in walks the Serpent Prince. They give him a wide berth as he moves towards his father.

"Nice of you to join us, Jughead." Jughead can't tell if Hiram is being sarcastic or not so he just nods his head.

"What's going on?"

"A meeting." His father says, "We are officially cutting away from dealing drugs."

Jughead thinks that this was long overdue but questions where the serpents will get money from now on. His number one concern will always be the safety and well-being of his people.

"Instead, the Lodge family has given you all job offers to start working at Lodge Industry Construction, with 5 years of work guaranteed." Forsythe II turns to face the crowd and confusion spreads. "All I care about is you guys. If I didn't, I wouldn't have even considered asking Hiram for his help."

Hiram takes this as his cue for an impromptu speech.

"I grew up in Southside, I grew up with all of you people, and I grew up with the same struggles that you did. I lived that life- We lived that life. Our parents hustled everyday, working the streets, risking their lives to ensure that we had a future. But I don't want the future generations of Serpents to have to go through the same trials. So I'm working on a project called SoDale, that will give the Southside of Riverdale a fresh new start. Clean parks, more housing, and less battles to fight  here on my side of town, with my people." Hiram finishes and a round of applause breaks out as he and their King side-hug each other, patting each other on the arms and back.

Jughead suddenly has an overwhelming sense of dread, though. A feeling he gets when he subconsciously knows that something is not quite right. Something is out of place or wrong with the entire situation. And Jughead is caught at the epicenter of an unforeseen earthquake.

Later that night, an injured but alive Penny Peabody hobbles off into the darkness and far away from Riverdale...for now. A raven haired prince watches her the back entrance of the Wyrm.  
________

 

     Veronica Lodge, an hour before she is due at a huge white canopy in a forest clearing out by Sweetwater River, calls her new best friend, Betty Cooper.

She picks up after three rings, "Hey, V. What are you up too?"

"Hey, B. Not much, are you busy today?" Veronica hopes that she isn't, that would totally ruin her plans. She wanted to invite Betty but not have to explain herself or deal with Betty's moral compass, so naturally, she invites her at the last minute.

"No, not at all. I was actually wondering-" Veronica cuts her off.

"Great! Listen, this is going to sound absolutely insane, but I need you to meet me at the address I'm gonna send you, in an hour. Wear nice clothes and bring Jason along too. This is a wedding, B. Oh and if you could, please call Kevin and remind him to bring that little gift we talked about." Veronica talks a mile a minute, Betty tries to get a few words in but ends up sputtering a few syllables. "Thank you so much, B. You're a life saver. I love you! Bye!"

With a click signaling the end of her call, Betty is left confused and bewildered.

"Bye?" She sighs to no one in particular.  
_______

 

     Elsewhere, Jughead Jones, an hour before his own wedding, wakes up with a thrashing hangover. He and Toni had tried to drink each other under the table last night at the Wyrm for a last minute bachelor party.

She had matched him drink for drink last night until Sweet Pea had swooped in, downed as many shots as they had and was still conscious after they reached their blackout points. He strongly regrets it now as he staggers into the bathroom and looks at his disheveled self in the mirror.

"Well, don't you look like shit?," Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni are all dressed and standing at his bathroom door, "No time for messing around, Jones, you've got a bride waiting for you."

"How are you all not hungover?!" Scowling at them in the mirror, Jughead feels like he's going to throw up.

"Simple..." Fangs smirks, "We know how to handle our liquor."

"Fuck you."  
________

  
     When Jughead actually arrives at the clearing 30 minutes later, clean shaven with suit in hand, he is surprised to see how put together the canopy looked considering that it was all planned in a matter of weeks.

Everything is a pearl color, and even though Veronica had no hand in decorating it, he could feel her presence in the setting. There are cuts of long white fabric that cover the aisle, tables, chairs, and are strewn in various places all across the room. Thousands of tiny purple and white flowers are scattered around on the ground, creating something of a small garden inside the canopy, along with bigger bouquets that decorate table pieces and the arch at the end of the aisle.

"Finally. I thought you'd changed your mind about this whole thing." The words somehow sound both condescending and relieved at the same time. The voice snaps Jughead out of his reverie and he turns his head.

"Sorry, Dad, it was a late night." FP just laughs understandingly and pulls him aside to a smaller white tent that was divided in half for the bride and groom, where he could get ready.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, son. I think some of our guests are arriving."

Jughead silently pulls on his suit and looks at himself through the full length mirror. The man that stares back at him is young and sharply dressed with the exception of a crown beanie that adorns his head. There is a look in his eye that Jughead  is unnerved by. The emotion behind it is uneasily placed so he distracts himself by moving to check for the ring that he left inside his jacket pocket.

A silver serpent coils itself around a white diamond, protecting the gem the only way it knows how; it casts aside self-preservation. Putting the ring back in his coat pocket, Jughead hears movement on the other side of the divider.

"Ronnie?"

"Jughead?" He spots an opening to the divider and gingerly pushes it aside to take a peek into her side of the tent.

He isn't successful however, because Veronica shrieks and throws the makeup compact in her hand in his direction.

"Jughead! It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!" He stifles a laugh at learning she's superstitious about these things.

"You really believe in that, Ronnie?"

"Of course I do." She mocks offense. "I've always wanted a wedding like this and now that I have it, I'm not taking any chances."

"You've always wanted a wedding..." He repeats back to her, afraid of the question he asks next, "with who?"

She's silent for a moment, choosing her words. He responds in a string of mumbled words, hastily covering his question in awkwardness.

"That's a silly question, I guess, you've never had any choice. You don't have to answer, it was dumb of me-"

"You. I mean, that's not to say that there haven't been other boys who caught my eye, but you've always belonged to me in my mind. Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, my one and only groom." She's right up next to the space in the divider where he tried to peek at her and now rests his hand. She reaches out, slowly but surely, and gently holds his hand in hers. He becomes stiff, but soon relaxes into her hold on him.

"We might not- I know we don't love each other, right now. But, considering we were strangers just a short week ago, we are doing exceptionally well..." Her words comfort him in a way that he didn't know he needed and he now recognizes the look in his eye, just a few minutes ago, in the mirror. Fear. He was absolutely terrified.

She seemed to sense this in the silence that ensued, "We have time, Jughead. All the time in the world."

Jughead thinks he's lucky that Veronica is who she is and that by some miracle, he gets to be apart of her life. He thinks that Veronica is certainly getting the short end of the stick in this relationship, but selfishly, he wouldn't let go of her if someone else had come along. He thinks that the only thing tethering him to the Earth right now, is her hand in his.

"Thank you."  
________

  
     "Do you, Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third, take Veronica Valentine Lodge, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

She's standing there, in a beautiful white dress that makes her look like a princess with a small crown tucked under her veil to match. His heart had swelled when he saw her walking towards him from the end of the aisle. Jughead looks her steadily in the eyes, "I do."

"And do you, Veronica Valentine Lodge, take Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

"I do." Their hearts beat faster in tandem.

They exchange twin rings that take them both by surprise, sliding them onto each others ring fingers a little clumsily.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

He lifts the veil and the world around them slowly fades away until all that is left are two raven haired teens. Their lips meet briefly and they unknowingly think together that this is the least spectacular kiss that maybe anyone, in the history of the world, has ever had. And they smile at each other, because they know that the cliche kiss that ignites sparks and burns a room down will be there one day. But they don't worry about that right now, because they have all the time in the world.  
________

  
     "Veronica Lodge, you have a lot of explaining to do." Betty Cooper stares her down, "How come you never told me about this until the absolute last minute? I mean I had to dress myself and Jason in less than an hour! Do you understand how much time that boy takes in the shower? And then I get here expecting to find you with the rest of the guests only to turn and see you walking down the aisle- that's another thing, you're only 16!"

Jason looks pretty relaxed while he waits for Betty to finish reprimanding her. He knows from personal experience not to interfere with a secretly caring Betty Cooper.

But it's so obvious that she cares for her that Veronica just looks at her with a mischievous smile, "You're a great friend, Elizabeth Cooper."

She embraces her and Betty is almost at a loss for words, "I'm just so worried for you but I'm also happy you invited me. It was a beautiful wedding and your dress is absolutely amazing."

"Congratulations, Veronica. It's about time Jughead got himself a girlfriend... Or wife." Jason shrugs noncommittally.

She thanks them both and they go off to mingle with the rest of the guests and Jughead, finished with his talk with a few of the older serpent men, walks over to her.

"Hey, we need to do something (don't freak out)," Jughead starts to lead her to the center of the room where a few of his friends wait with a cage covered in cloth, "in order to be recognized as married to the Serpents. It's going to be easy, but you have to hold still."

A tall man she has never met, brings the cage over to them, "What's this?"

"This, Mrs. Jones, is a binding ceremony, Serpent style. We take this snake and if he winds himself around you, you two are married." Sweet Pea takes out a long silver snake, "Don't worry, he's quite cuddly, though, if I were you, I'd try not to move too much."

She panics and turns to Jughead whose eyes meet hers in a reassuring gaze, hand reaching for hers.

Sweet Pea takes the snake and let's it slowly slither it self down Jugheads arm and towards their enjoined hands. Veronica gets goosebumps as soon as it's head touches her skin. It's eyes are red and it's tongue flicks out with a hiss, she's oddly transfixed by the way it's eyes seem to look directly at her. As soon as it reaches the end of her forearm, Jughead tries to remove it from them. The snake, though, seems to have other plans and it clamps its body down tighter onto Veronica and sinks its fangs into the skin just below her shoulder.

Someone shrieks.  
____________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our poor, sweet Veronica. What ever will she do now?


	4. Chapter Four: The Shadows Underneath

As the silver serpent sinks it's fangs into her skin, Veronica faintly hears what sounds like a shrill shriek before gingerly removing it, careful not to let it sink any deeper. She's holding it's head in her bare hands and can feel it loosen its grip on her. Jughead is directing her through staying calm and breathing but she can barely hear him over her heartbeat thrashing in her ears. She feels adrenaline course through her veins and wonders if that's what is keeping her so calm right now.

 

"Veronica." the voice is almost like a whisper, "I need you to say something. Please, Veronica, say something for me?"

 

She doesn't respond right away, and just looks at the snake as he is put back into his cage. "Is it over?"

 

Her voice is hoarse but Jughead is relieved that she was seemingly alright, although, her pupils were strangely dilated. He probably should have warned her that the snake was supposed to bite her and that it was all part of the ceremony but it was too late already and she'd survived all on her own.

 

"I'm sorry to put you through that, Ronnie. It's part of the tradition, I should've warned you, the snakes venom glands are removed and all that's left is a bloody mess, which we should probably clean up." Luckily, her beautiful white dress has not a single spot of blood on it and Jughead takes a cloth from a nearby table to wipe up the wounds in her arm. "You did amazingly though. And you impressed the elders with how you dealt with it yourself."

 

Jughead's heart swells with pride at the thought that his bride, a Park Avenue Princess from New York had passed the serpents test and that she did better than most. Veronica's heartbeat slows and the adrenaline fades as he leads her to sit down at the table nearby, leaving her shaky and in extreme need of an nap.

 

"Is that the only thing we have to do? For the Serpents marriage thing? I mean, the whole snake thing was great and all, but I'd rather not get too close to another snake." Jughead laughs and pulls her up onto her feet. A crowd gathers around them, congratulating her and asking if she is in good health.

 

The same group of older men that Jughead had talked to earlier walk over to commend her on her bravery.

 

"That was a brave thing you did, girl." One of them speaks with a less dramatic version of a Native American accent that she had heard on one of those old western movies she had watched once. He has raven hair and strong facial features, vaguely reminding her of someone but she couldn't pinpoint who.

 

"Thank you, sir." Veronica replies as politely as she can, from what Jughead had said, they were important to please. To him at least.

 

"Please, call me Grandfather. Your bride does well, Grandson." The same man speaks again, directing his words at Jughead too. "At last, the Lodge and Jones family are united as one. This day has been long awaited."

 

The old man places his hands on either of their shoulders, "To fulfill a promise from generations ago is not easy, but the Serpents of long ago predicted that this union would bring a new era for our people. I have a feeling that they were right."

 

Veronica Jones née Lodge feels the weight of his words down upon her chest and knows with her heart that it's a weight that will be difficult to carry. Her husband thinks that the same weight will be easy to carry if they carry it together.

________

 

     Jughead Jones knows how to dance. Veronica learns this as he pulls her up on her feet and leads her out into the middle of the dance floor as the next slow song begins to play. "Remember earlier when you asked me if we had anything else to do? This is it."

 

"We have to dance?" Veronicadoubts his motives but doesn't move shy from him as he places his hands on her waist. She links her own hands together at the base of his neck and they sway to the beat. It's an old song sung by a trio of girls that she had seen at school earlier in the week. 'Joanne and the cats' is what they called themselves... or something like that. They sound like silk.

 

_Unforgettable_

_That's what you are_

_Unforgettable_

_Tho' near or far_

 

It's just the bride and her groom on the floor.

 

_Like a song of love that clings to me_

_How the thought of you does things to me_

_Never before_

_Has someone been more..._

 

Neither of them speak as they cling together, cheeks dusted with a rose color, and he swirls her around.

 

_Unforgettable_

_In every way_

_And forever more_

_That's how you'll stay_

 

More people trickle onto the dance floor, creating an almost electric charge in the air.

 

_That's why, darling, it's incredible_

_That someone so unforgettable_

_Thinks that I am_

_Unforgettable, too_

 

She smiles against his shoulder and he strokes her hair.

 

_Unforgettable_

_In every way_

_And forever more_

_That's how you'll stay_

 

To any random onlooker, they are lovers.

 

_That's why, darling, it's incredible_

_That someone so unforgettable_

_Thinks that I am_

_Unforgettable, too_

 

The couple knows better though, and still continue dancing on into the night.

________

 

Somewhere on the floor, a striking blonde dances with a handsome redhead.

 

"When's the last time we slow danced together, Betty?"

 

"Gee, it must've been... The Company Christmas party at Blossom Estate... Everyone was dancing and Cheryl went off with some kid named Andrew and, although there were so many girls wanting to dance with you, you chose me."

 

"I remember! You were so terribly shy back then, it was better than dancing with girls that would sink their teeth in me first chance they got. Polly was so mad at me for choosing you over her. "

 

"..."

 

"Oh no, Betty, I'm sorry... I forgot."

 

"No, No, it's not your fault. She would've like that you remembered her. I was just thinking that I miss the hell out of her."

 

"Me too."

 

"Jason?"

 

"Yes, Betty?"

 

"I never apologized for last week... I'm really sorry about-"

 

"I know... It isn't your fault... I love you, Betty."

 

"I love you too, Jason."

 

Their lips meld together in a soft kiss and Jason Blossom wishes for what must be the millionth time that he could heal Betty the way she heals him. They dance together more often after that night, sometimes at parties or sometimes when they are alone, but always together.

________

 

If someone had told Kevin Keller that he'd be slow dancing with a gang member at Veronica Lodge's wedding, a week ago, he would've assumed they'd escaped from an insane asylum or something. But now, swaying to the rhythm with a ruggedly hot man named Joaquin, he'd believe that anything was possible.

 

"Listen, I think you're really cute, Kevin, and I was wondering..." He didn't finish his sentence but the red on his cheeks spoke for him.

 

"Next Saturday? We can have a picnic at the River, you know, get to know each other and stuff."

 

"Yeah!" He answers eagerly, then is embarrassed, clearing his throat. "Yes. I mean yes."

 

"I'll bring the food, you bring the blankets."

 

”Deal.”

________

 

"May I cut in?" Jughead's father-in-law taps him on the shoulder after their slow dance. "We still haven't had our daddy-daughter dance."

 

"Of course, sir." Hiram looks at him pointedly. "Of course, _Tio_."

 

"That's more like it." Hiram takes his daughters hand in his and faintly remembers how small they used to be whenever she would hold his hand as they strolled Central Park all those years ago.

 

"Tia? A dance?" Hermione accepts her new son's invitation and laughs when he hints that he knows the secret to Veronica's good looks.

 

"You know, Mija, I've been thinking about your future."

 

Veronica smirks, "When are you not, daddy?"

 

"No, I'm serious, Mija." Hiram had once heard that Veronica learned that smart-ass smirk from him. He didn't doubt for a second that it was true. "Your mother and I have decided to leave a few properties in your name- just a few- we don't want you getting carried away now. And we are giving you the Pembrooke, for you to have your own space and a little for that husband of yours too. If you stay in separate rooms, of course."

 

"Really, Daddy?" Her face fell at the thought of her parents leaving her to live on her own. She may be married now, but she was still a kid. "Where will you guys live though?"

 

Hiram shakes his head, "Don't worry about us. We found a nice little estate near the southside of town. It's a little small, but 'quality, always' as your mother says."

 

"So this is it, huh? The Lodge triple-threat is now a husband/wife dynamic duo?" Her father stops in his tracks.

 

"Oh no, you thought this was the end, Mija? It's only the beginning and hey, who knows? Maybe we can add Mijo over there and make it a fearsome foursome!" The thought of their little family made her grin broadly.

 

"I love you, daddy." She hugs him tight.

 

"I love you too, Mija." Hiram loves his daughter. He would give her the moon if she had asked him to.

 

He feels a twinge of regret about what he's planned to do. It isn't personal, though, because business is business, no matter who it is with. And if one serpent succeeds, all of them do.

________

 

     "Do you mind dancing with another old man?" FP comes to steal Veronica away from Hiram.

 

"Hey, I'm not that old, amigo." Hiram protests but in the end, hands Veronica over to him. "Watch out for FP, Mija, he likes to tease."

 

"Hey, kid." He dances just as well as Jughead. "How are you and my Juggy boy doing?"

 

"We're getting along just fine, Mr. Jones." He smiles and she's struck with the thought that it's Jughead's smile she's seeing right now.

 

"You don't have to call me Mr. Jones, I'll feel like an old man if you do," They twirl and pass Jughead and Hermione on the dance floor, laughing.

 

"Okay, _FP_ ," Veronica reminds him of a girl he grew up with and smiles as the very same girl he's thinking about dances with his son. "Jughead... I'm really thankful that he's the person I get to marry. If it would've been anyone, I'm glad that it's him. He's been nothing but a dream."

 

"That's good to hear because he's known for being a bit moody sometimes... You know, I've been worried about this for a long time. Jug... he's all I got." FP looks wistfully in Jughead's direction. "He doesn't know how to take care of himself, he always forgets to eat, can barely remember to sleep- Ju-Just please, while he's living with you, please take care of him. He's such a good kid and I just want the world for him. He sure as hell deserves it."

 

"I know and I will." Veronica thinks Jughead does too. He smiles knowingly and when the song is over, he pulls away from her and she can swear for a second that she sees a single tear slide down his cheek before he turns to leave.

________

 

     At the end of the night, her husband helps Veronica into his newly decorated pickup truck reading 'just married', as everyone throws rice at them.  They laugh at each other when they see the rice in their hair, dusting it off,  while Jughead starts the ignition and drives off in the direction of the Pembrooke.

 

"Your dad is really nice...I like him."

 

"Yeah," There's a smile in his voice that she can't see in the darkness of the night, "He's the best. I think he likes you too, Ronnie."

 

She's glad. Still high in her wedding happiness, she doesn't think too much about the words she says next.

 

"Jug, you know what comes after this, right?" His brain immediately goes to the one thought that most teenage boys have and his cheeks go raging red as he loses control for a second, swerving his car to the right to the right a little. "Jesus, Jughead! What're you trying to do?! Kill me?!"

 

"Veronica... you don't have to feel pressured to do anything." He practically spits his words at her.

 

"What?!" Shes not comprehending what he could possibly be so flustered about right now when he just nearly killed them both.

 

"I know we're married now, but we're still getting to know each other and we're practically kids-" He's rambling now and she could feel the heat coming off of him in waves. He's breathing harshly now, nearly hyperventilating.

 

"What?" _What could possibly have him so-_ _Oh_.

 

"All I'm saying is that we have time, and if we wanna do things in the future that's a decision we can make as a couple but right now is-" His whole posture is stiff.

 

" _Jughead_..." She feels a heat rise to her cheeks as well.

 

"-maybe not a good time for us. And I'm not prepared for this and I'm sure you aren't ready either- I don't mean it like that, I just mean that you don't know me very well and-" He speeds up, gripping the wheel with white knuckles, determined to get to the Pembrooke faster.

 

"Jughead!" Shes so wholly embarrassed now that she doesn't even look at him, "I meant that our parents want us to move into the Pembrooke together! Both of our dads talked about it! I just wanted to know if you knew too!"

 

"Oh... my father told me about that. Tia mentioned it too..." He relaxes greatly. Never, though, has he been equally both embarrassed and relieved at the same time. He let's go of his tight grip on the wheel.

 

They pull up to the Pembrooke and for a few minutes, they sit in harsh awkward silence.

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

Jughead is the first to break the silence with a small laugh that increases in volume. It's the ugliest, most uncontrollable laughter she thinks she's ever heard. And she loves it. And she can't help but join him with her own ugly, uncontrollable laugh.

________

 

"Do you want to come inside? Have a drink maybe?" Jughead knows she has no other meaning besides this than having an actual drink but his heart races anyways.

 

"Sure." He gets out of that dusty old pickup and opens her door for her. They walk side-by-side into the empty lobby of the Pembrooke and then into the apartment.

 

He's never been inside the Pembrooke but he didn't imagine it any less... Lodge. Everything looks very modern and pieced together just right, like a giant puzzle where everything has its place. It's almost like the apartment had never been lived in.

 

"I'm going to change out of this dress." Veronica gestures to her room and he nods, "I'll get you some of Daddy's pajamas too. I doubt that they'll be home tonight."

 

Her parents were party people, and, if she was honest... nearly alcoholic. There were many late nights and early mornings where Veronica would find her parents passed out with drinks scattered around them. They'll probably stay with FP.

 

"Thank you." Jughead has been itching to get out of his tux since before he even got it on.

 

She leaves to change and he sits himself on the plush couch. There's a fire place below the TV and he thinks it adds a touch of warmth to the place.

 

After a few minutes, she comes out makeup-free and dressed in the most relaxed clothes he's seen her in yet. She's wearing a plain grey t-shirt and comfy looking pajama pants with familiar little crowns on them. Seeing her all comfy only makes Jughead's collar chafe his neck even more. She carries a matching set of clothes with her.

 

"Should I get you a matching beanie?" He smirks, pulling the beanie out of his back pocket.

 

"Okay, smartass. I'm pretty sure my mother is the one who laid those out on my bed for us, so don't be too flattered." He still laughs at her when she rolls her eyes, and goes to change in her bathroom. Her mother always had a knack for predicting the future when it came to Veronica and her laying out clothes for the both of them is neither the first, nor will it be the last time she thinks ahead.

 

Lighting the fire with ease, she takes out two glasses from her fathers liquor cabinet and makes them both whiskey on the rocks. She drapes herself over the couch and stares at the nice warm fire, getting the slightest bit sleepier. Her husband comes out of the her room wearing his matching pajamas and beanie, his tuxedo is folded haphazardly.

 

He yawns and stretches himself out on the couch with Veronica, who hands him his drink.

 

"Whiskey?" He takes a sip, surprised she can handle such a strong drink.

 

"I've been drinking whiskey since I was like 14... only occasionally, of course. Back then, I used to be drunk off of one sip." A smile washes over her face.

 

"What was life like in New York?" Jughead imagines 14 year-old Veronica dressed to the nines, walking down park avenue like it was a runway.

 

"Life in New York is fast-paced. Everyone is always moving, racing towards their next destination. I used to go through life like it was a race. New York is a beautiful city but, if you don't slow down, you miss everything that makes it truly special." Jughead thinks about the slow pace of Riverdale when she speaks with such pride about her city.

 

He thinks about the football games on Friday nights and the Bijou on Saturday, and how it has become a tired tradition. He thinks about Betty, Jason and Kevin, and Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni, and how there are so many other people in the world. He thinks about the county line, and how he's never crossed it in all 16 years of his life on Earth.

 

He thinks about how small he feels.

 

It’s as if she reads his mind, “Maybe it wasn’t _that_ great. Sometimes the smog in the air filled my lungs and made me dizzy, or sometimes it was amazingly overpopulated, and _maybe_ the people were sometimes vile and callous.”

 

He is grateful for her attempt to sully his inferiority complex but he feels it still deep in his heart, he’s suddenly embarrassed of his home town, “Riverdale, ‘the town with pep!'... people spend their whole lives trying to believe that this town is anything other than mediocre. Call me a cynic, but the people here cling to the idea that Riverdale is perfect because they want to believe that they are too... Look around, Veronica, see the shadows underneath.”

 

His words become a silent plea and he hopes he doesn’t sound crazy. Veronica formulates that he has seen something out of the ordinary here in Riverdale. The most reasonable thing to do when investigating is to first enquire.

 

“ _Jughead Jones..._ _What have you seen?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our dear Juggiekins appears as if he knows something...What have you seen?


	5. Chapter Five: A Dark Place

It's the Fourth of July. A day they've been waiting for. Polly is gone now, somewhere deep in the woods where nobody will find her. A pair ofauburn-haired twins lurk in the shadows of the trees, keeping watch.

 

"Jason? Cheryl?" A voice breaks the eerie silence that surrounds them.

 

"Betty?" They turn in unison.

 

"Come on! We have to move faster!" Betty pulls on Jason's left hand, his other attached to Cheryl.

 

"You bitch! What the hell happened?" Cheryl pulls back from Jason's grip on her and turns on Betty. "This is your fucking fault! You were the one that wanted Polly gone! She would have never-"

 

"There's no time, Cheryl. It's done already. She's gone." Jason feels sympathy for Cheryl but will not risk letting them get caught and starts to tug her back to their car, "It's better this way. She was never happy anyways."

 

"You have to go! You can't be here! If you get caught, they'll kill you!" Betty shoves Jason and Cheryl towards their car. "Hurry! You were never here."

 

"Betty... Be careful, okay?" Jason gets Cheryl, who's crying hysterically, into the car. He comes around to the drivers side and kisses Betty chastely on her lips. "You'll be okay. We've been over this plan a thousand times... I love you, Betty."

 

"I love you too, Jason."

 

"Go, you should get into the water now. You remember where you put the boat?" He gets into his car and turns the key, starting the ignition.

 

"I remember." She nods and he pulls out of the clearing.

 

"Good luck."

_________

 

"Elizabeth?" Mrs. Blossom, despite Betty's numerous protests, will without fail, always call her by her birth-name. It irks her to no end.

 

"Mrs. Blossom, how nice to see you." 

 

The Blossom and Cooper families have dinner together every Friday without fail. Polly's death is no exception. It's a few days before school starts and an hour before dinner is ready, Betty strolls the Blossom Garden on a path she's walked a thousand times before. Jason trails behind her, holding her hand loosely.

 

Today, they are not alone as they typically are. Penelope Blossom pretends she hadn't followed them into the maze-like garden.

 

"I haven't had the chance to talk to you in such a long time. You've been absent the last three dinners, I'd begun to think that you'd became a recluse!"She wasn't feeling up for happy family dinners now that Polly was gone and it wasn't Betty's fault but Penelope sure does make it sound that way.

 

"Yes. I'm sorry about that Mrs. Blossom. I've been feeling under the weather these last few weeks." She didn't need to apologize but knew her mother would chastise her later if she didn't. There had been many occasions where her mother had been told about Betty's 'poor behavior' by Jason's mother.

 

"Yes, the death of Polly was hard on all of us. We loved her like our own daughter. Poor Jason, he loved her dearly. When he was younger, he told me he'd marry her one day." She refused to acknowledge that they were dating and never failed to bring up the past.

 

Polly was perfect, beautiful, docile and feminine in the minds of everyone who knew her, especially to Clifford and Penelope Blossom. _A much better match for Jason than homely little Elizabeth Cooper._

 

The thought annoys her deeply, "Well, it's all in the past now. Jason and I are together now, and we're happy, too."

 

"Mother-" Jason wants to chastise her for being so rude but he can never go against his own mother when she gives him that stern look of hers.

 

"Oh, Jason." Mrs. Blossoms face remains in the same elegantly stoic visage that she often wears, which unnerves Betty considering the disgusting words she says next, "Where did I go wrong with you? You've always been such a good child. Why can't you be more like Cheryl? She would rather die than to embarrass us like this."

 

"Mother, please. Please, stop-" Not in front of Betty. He will beg her to stop if he has to. It's no secret that Cheryl is favored more, but Betty doesn't need to see just how much that is.

 

"Don't get mouthy with me, young man! You've always been such a sympathetic child. Always choosing the charity cases over someone who's actually worthy of your time. You embarrass me." Penelope drives harder into him. The shame of her words burn brightly on his face.

 

Without warning, Betty is pulled into a dark place. She is in a place that she knows very well. A place that haunts her with the allure of its darkness. The voices of a pleading Jason and his awful mother take her deep within her psyche and in an attempt to go back, she ends up lashing out.

 

"Mrs. Blossom! I am aware of how much you hate me. I am aware that I am an embarrassment to you. And I know that I am not worthy of Jason." Betty heard the danger in her own voice and feels the anger rise in her chest and she feels as though she could rip her apart with her bare hands. She gets close into her personal space, whispering in her ear as Jason stands by helplessly. "But if you _ever_ imply that Jason is anything less than perfect again, I swear to God that I will tear you _limb from limb_ until there's nothing left of you but wrinkles and a bad attitude."

 

Penelope Blossom steps back from her. In all her years of living, she has never been talked to in such a vile manner. Betty had taken her by surprise with an unsettling, nearly inhuman amount of strength, the threat nearly shaking her to her core.

 

"You would never dare, you rude little bitch!" She raises her hand to slap her but her hand is caught in Betty's and she uses it to pull Penelope closer. They stare intensely at each other and Penelope could swear for a fleeting moment that Betty's sky blue eyes take a dark hue.

 

"Try me." She has a hold on her now, gripping her harshly by the wrist in such a way that the only thing stopping her from breaking her wrist entirely was the fact that Jason finally decides to step in.

 

"Betty... the sun is starting to rise." Not physically, of course. Jason has seen this before in Betty. He's never been too afraid of her when she's like this because he knows how to handle her."It's light out now, Betty. Feel that warmth, sweetheart? It's real nice, isn't it?"

 

As if a spell had been broken, Betty snaps out of whatever trance she was in and looks horrified. She sees the stark red marks on Mrs. Blossom's wrist and the pale white knuckles of her own hand. _Did I do that?_

 

It dawned on her that these little episodes of hers were getting out of control. She's never come that close to hurting someone. Usually, it was just- it was only the anger or the anguish. Never had she ever laid her hands on someone.

 

Jason remembers differently, in an incident that happened once when they were kids. Polly was playing with Jason, Cheryl and Betty in the Cooper Estate's garden. Polly was a year older than they were, and unfortunately that meant she hit her growth spurt before the rest of their little group.

 

Polly was a brat, and hated that Jason and Cheryl shared their precious toys with Betty despite also sharing with Polly herself. Polly, much bigger than her sister, decided to push Betty into the ground, kicking dirt into her face and calling her all kinds of childish insults. The dirt settles in a distinguished layer on her face, making her look impoverished instead of the privileged child she really was.

 

Cheryl laughed just a bit at the things she called her but Betty was her best friend so she never really meant any harm in laughing at her. Betty, only six years old at the time, embarrassed and dirty, lashed out in a way that most children do.

 

He was sure he'd never seen anyone move so quickly and with such conviction. Betty is up within seconds, grabbing Polly by the hair after kicking her in the stomach, and forcing her onto her knees. She holds her by the hair as she looms over her older sister, who cries out in pain. She cocks her arm back and is about to strike when Polly starts to whimper.

 

It only takes Betty a few seconds to realize what she's _actually_ doing. Then, she is staggering back, the dark look in her eyes washed away by guilt. And she swivels on her feet. And she runs further into the garden.

 

Jason found her after a few minutes of reprimanding Polly and then making sure she was okay. She was curled up into a little ball, rocking back and forth, whispering to herself. She was alone and scared like the abandoned child she was.

 

"The sun is rising... it so warm... It- It's so bright." She tells herself. "Please, Please, don't do that again."

 

Jason was wise beyond his years, and in contempt of being curious about what she meant, didn't dare to ask her. Making no noise and pretending for a moment that he had not seen what he did, he slowly wraps his chubby little six year-old arms around little Betty Cooper. He speaks a single sentence in a soothing voice, imitating Mrs. Cooper the best he can.

 

 _"The sun is rising, Betty."_

________

 

Dinner that night is carried on in the same manner that they usually are. The women talk about the pace of business and the men beg them to find more interesting subjects, tired of hearing about work. Cheryl brings up the deer she had hunted recently and engages her father and godfather in a thrilling conversation about the upcoming hunting season.

 

Jason and Betty are more reserved, talking in hushed tones or sometimes not even bothering to talk at all. They're the quiet type, electing to say more things with their eyes or touches than with their mouths. They could have full conversations without saying anything, a habit he also shares with his twin. She brushes her fingers across his knuckles. _Thank you._

 

Cheryl can tell that something happened in the garden by the way he refuses to meet anyone's eyes except hers. He looks disheartened and ashamed, leading her to believe its something to do with their mother.

 

It's something he can't confide in Betty about, a fact that makes Cheryl feel validated and important. Betty may be his girlfriend now, but Cheryl will always be his sister. So she helps her brother the best she can and draws the attention away from him and to herself.

 

It's a long night for the couple. When dinner is finished, desert has been served, and three games of cribbage come and go, the Coopers finally take their leave.

 

"Goodnight Hal, Goodnight Alice, Goodnight Betty!" Clifford Blossom hugs each of them whilst standing in the foyer as they pull on their jackets. "See you next week at your place!"

 

"Goodnight Betty!" Jason and Cheryl hug her separately. They say goodnight to Hal and Alice too, before their mother steps out from behind them.

 

"Goodnight! Have a safe trip home, Okay?" She hugs Mr. and Mrs. Cooper and then makes her way over to Betty. Her voice is dripping with masked venom.

 

"Goodnight, _Elizabeth_ , I look forward to seeing you next week..." She kisses her lightly on the cheek, the sticky red lipstick she wears clings to Betty's pale skin in a deep red mark that would look like blood from a short distance. "Be safe, my darling child.

 

And with that closing sentence, they hustle out of the door and into their car. The Cooper family's black Bentley pulls out of the paved driveway and into the dark night.

 

Betty feels bile rising up in her throat.

________

 

 _"Jughead Jones... What have you seen?"_ Veronica isn't afraid of his answer yet. _What could possibly be so terrible in little old Riverdale? Half of the population here are middle-aged and older._ She should be scared.

 

"..." He is weary of her, as most people are. The cliché for rich girls like her are that they are most often loud-mouthed, unable to keep secrets or possibly willing to sell them. He has a feeling he can trust her though. "How much do you know about your father’s way of handling his own business?"

 

"My father is ruthless, stubborn, some might even say he's manipulative; it's his prerogative to take the rules and bend it to his own will.He's my father, and I love him dearly but that doesn't mean I don't see the things he does." Veronica has long known about the unsavory reputation her father holds but likes to turn a blind eye rather than to get involved. It's easier that way.

 

"Yesterday night, a woman named Penny Peabody hobbled out of the back entrance of the Wyrm. I wasn't sure I'd actually seen her when I saw the blood matted into her hair, I thought for a second that she was some injured wild animal that happened to find its way into the Wyrm with all of the groaning she was doing." Jughead searches his mind for any other details he could use to get his theory across. " I knew it was her, though, because we had a meeting about her earlier in the day."

 

"A meeting?" Veronica is confused. She didn't quite know where he was going with all of this.

 

"About the Serpents breaking ties with drug-related business, which happens to be the trade of the very same Penny Peabody that was seen leaving the Wyrm that night." Jughead isn't sure how the next part of his theory is going to pan-out. "You know who hosted that meeting?"

 

Veronica knows. She believes it too. "It was my father, wasn't it?"

 

"I think our parents did something to her. Something awful. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it, but... " Jughead doesn't need to carry on, he's made his opinion loud and clear. "Look, if I know one thing about Penny, it's that she's possibly the most prideful person on this earth. She's out there nursing a wounded ego and she won't rest until she gets revenge somehow. All I know, is that this is going to backfire on us... And with the Serpents rebuilding their image, things are a little fragile right now."

 

"... Jughead. We're going to be Serpent King and Queen one day... We're going to have to be devoted to the welfare of the Serpents... Do you think we'll have to do things like that? Violent things?" Veronica is stoic, choosing not to portray one emotion over the other. She is unafraid of his answer because she knows what it's going to be. Bloodshed is sometimes the only way to obtain peace. She resents the fact.

 

"If I'm honest, Ronnie... Yeah." That's it. No inspirational speech, no sugarcoating, no deception. The plain and honest truth is what he thinks she deserves and so that's what she gets.

 

He is unaware of the tiny piece of Veronica's heart that he snatches up in that moment. To her, honesty is a virtue.

 

"Well, If were going to do it anyways, we might as well do it with purpose: for the Serpents." Another round of whiskey is poured  as Veronica Jones let's Jughead's words ruminate in her mind.

 

"Cheers." He clinks his glass against hers.

 

The glow from the fireplace highlights his high cheekbones and full lips, making them look soft and inviting. If Veronica were a different person, or maybe just an older one, she'd have the courage to press her lips against his.

 

But, for now, Veronica Jones is 16 and isn't aware of any major changes in herself, so she just scoots a little closer to him and tucks her feet under herself.

 

"Cheers." She echos him, smiling inwardly.

________

 

     The two teenage newly-weds fall asleep that night in close quarters. They are a drunken tangle of long limbs, messy raven colored hair and matching pajamas. The fireplace dies somewhere in the hours of the early morning and they snuggle closer in their sleep.

 

"Well, Hey now, isn't this a cute couple?" FP Jones stands over his son and daughter-in-law, whispering with his co-conspirators.

 

"No." Hiram dislikes this very much, "I'm going to wake them up."

 

"Hiram Rogelio Lodge, don't you dare!" She yells as quietly as she can. His wife's scowl disrupts his plans, "Not until I get a picture of this!"

 

She snaps a few quick pictures of the two, much to the annoyance of Hiram, and then turns to FP to show him her work. He nods his head jovially, the pictures would provide him laughter for quite some time.

 

Veronica's head rests on the ankle of Jughead's foot, arms wrapped around his legs,as her own feet dig further into his armpits. When Jughead swats her feet to keep her still, she ends up kicking him aggressively in his arm.  Both of them have extreme bedhead, tufts of raven hair flying in every direction.

 

"Send that one to me!" He laughs at the shot, his son starts to drool a little in this one.

 

"Okay, you've had your fun. It's time to wake them up now." Hiram isn't argued with and he takes that as a signal to move behind the couch and roll them both off.

 

They hit the floor with a thud, sending their parents into a fit of laughter. Jughead is up immediately.

 

"Ouch." He opens his eyes to a strange sight. "What's going on?"

 

From the floor, he looks down and sees Veronica starting to wake while, looking up, he sees his father and his in-laws laughing as they look down at them.  He picks his crown up off of the table and slips it on.

 

"You guys are here at _ungodly_ hours, laughing like a bunch of _lunatics_ , and playing pranks like a couple of _teenagers_. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Veronica quips sarcastically, having woken up and guessed what was going on even with her eyes closed. She sits up and stretches her body out, yawning.

 

Now awake, she becomes aware of the ache in the side of her neck, " _Jesus_ , Jughead, you're so bony."

 

"At least my feet weren't stuck in your armpits." She flushes and throws one of the decorative pillows they moved onto the ground last night at him.

 

"Ow." It hits him square in the face. He grabs one of the pillows near him and raises it above him threateningly, eliciting her to mirror his movements.

 

"Alright, Alright. Before you guys start WWIII in here, we should help get all of Jughead's things unpacked." Hermione gestures to the door just as two men in uniforms burst through carrying huge cardboard boxes. "We also did a little shopping."

 

 _"What?!"_ Neither of them seem too offended at each other's outburst, the young Mr. and Mrs. Jones both weren't expecting him to be moving in so fast.

 

"We told you kids about this, didn't we?" FP looks confused. He could've sworn he mentioned it at the wedding.

 

"Yeah, yeah. No, I was just surprised that it's so soon." Jughead looks pointedly at his father.

 

"It was going to happen anyways, we just thought the sooner you two get used to each other, the better."

 

 _"Gee, thanks dad."_ The sarcasm in his voice is hard to mask.

 

"You can take the room next to Veronica's, since ours is such a ways away from hers. But, if you two want to have Jughead unpacked and his room ready to go by tonight, we should get started now.”

 

They get started immediately.

________

 

      The apartment that Jughead sleeps in that night hardly resembles the one he woke up in. Hermione had teams of people clear everything, out of the apartment. Everything that replaced the previous items followed a strict color scheme of either white, ash grey, black or several shades of light blue, the same colors of Veronica’s furniture and room.

 

As it turns out, that 'little' bit of shopping that Hermione meant included an entire apartment worth of furnishings and a few bags of clothes for the both of them. She had bought Veronica a couple of dark jeans and a few loose t-shirts while Jughead got some slacks and a few button ups.

 

Veronica thinks she’ll wear her newly bought clothes on the day that pigs grow wings and start to fly. Jughead just hangs his new clothes up in his new walk-in closet on a rack he’s labeled ‘absolutely not’, adjacent to his everyday attire. Veronica helps him organize, of course, because what would Jughead Jones know about organization?

 

“Put those there.” She points to a shoe rack where he proceeds to put a few pairs of worn converse that look odd next to a few sets of brand name oxfords in various colors.

 

She folds all of his shirts and hangs his jeans and his large collection of flannels. She folds a few towels and stores other toiletries in the designated space next to the towels.

 

Then, they move into his room. His new bed is king-sized and much more comfortable that the double he sleeps on at home. He also gets a desk, a place for his record-player and vinyls and best of all, Veronica brings out a box wrapped in red ribbon and sits on his desk with it.

 

“What’s this?” Jughead didn’t plan on having this many gifts today and although he accepted Hermione’s, he wasn’t sure he could accept Veronica’s.

 

“A little something. Kevin told me he had a friend who could repair it because buying something like this nowadays would have just ruined this things character.” She pats the box in a strange-loving way. Her wedding gift once belonged to her grandmother. “I also searched the internet for pieces for it. All vintage, of course.”

 

“Veronica, you shouldn’t have.” Sheepishly, Jughead looks around at all of his new things. He’s shamefaced, thinking about how he hadn’t gotten her a gift yet. “I didn’t get you anything.”

 

“What more do I need?” She doesn’t want him to have to feel like he owes her. They’re husband and wife now, it isn’t out of her boundaries to get him something nice. “Open it, please? For me?”

 

How could he resist that angelic face of hers, especially now that she pouts her lips and gives him puppy dog eyes that rival his brother Jellybeans? “Okay. Fine. But, no more gifts, Ronnie. I’m serious.”

 

“Okay, but if we’re gonna make this fair, you have to come to the football games on Fridays...” She was going to drag him to them anyways, she just wanted to make him feel like he had a choice in this, “... Lest I lavish you with unwanted gifts.”

 

“You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Lodge.”He gets a swift swat on his arm.

 

“Just open it, smart-ass.” Veronica is anticipating his reaction, “Oh, and it’s Jones now, as of yesterday.”

 

“My mistake, Mrs. Jones.” He laughs.

 

Gingerly, he pulls one end of the red ribbon, the rest of it follows behind his pull and comes off altogether. He let’s out a gasp.

 

“Do you like it?” She bites her lip nervously.

 

He’s silent, concentrated on taking it out of the box steadily.

 

“The first time we met, you were typing away on that laptop of yours. I remembered this, and I wanted you to have it. Mi abuelita wrote a novel on this thing and maybe you could write whatever it is you’re working on with this too.” She mumbles out an explanation, anxious that he hasn’t said anything yet.

 

The old typewriter, one that had belonged to her grandmother, seemed like too important of a gift to be left into his care. “It’s beautiful, Veronica, really it is. But I can’t accept something like this. It’s too... special. I couldn’t.”

 

She rolls her eyes. “If I didn’t think you were special enough to have this, I wouldn’t have given it to you, you’re an amazing writer, Jug... Mi abuela would have wanted you to have it.”

 

Her words seem to get through his protests andinstead of reaching for his gift, he reaches out to his wife instead, wrapping his lanky arms around her tiny torso. “Thank you, Veronica.”

 

It’s the best gift that he has ever received in his 16 years and he was overcome with the fact that Veronica had known him so well in the short time they knew each other. He has to scrunch his body forward to meet her’s from where she sits on the desk but he doesn’t mind.

 

She giggles softly, enfolding him into a warm embrace. “You’re welcome, _Jughead_.”

 

She says his name with such newfound tenderness that he pulls back and looks her deep into her charcoal eyes. He glances down at the bowed curve of her lips, too enticing in that moment for him to let her go without even a single kiss. He slides her gently off of the desk and presses his body against hers, looking for any sign ofnon-consent. He doesn’t find it though, so he leans in ever-so-slightly and is delighted when she leans in too.

 

With more courage than Veronica Jones went to sleep with last night, she meets his lips in a searing kiss that sends her knees shaking...

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as we love our darling Betty Cooper, don’t we just adore our dark Betty? As for Mrs. Blossom... Good luck, sweetheart...


	6. Chapter Six: Into the Serpents Den

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_What makes a place feel like home? Is it warmth and familiarity? Some idealized, make-believe TV version of the American Dream? Is it love and acceptance? Or is it simple safety?_

_Hope. A word so close to home and as tricky. It's a four letter word that, to me, makes a place feel like home. It's the hope that there will be more tomorrow than there was today. More love, more happiness, more time._

_A hope that a certain raven-haired princess would kiss me again like she did in that moment._

________

 

With more courage than Veronica Jones went to sleep with the night before, she meets his lips in a searing kiss that sends her knees shaking. If possible, he clutches her even closer to him, encasing her waist in his hands. Her own hands travel up to where his beanie rests, tossing it off and snaking her hands through his raven curls.

 

He's a bit too tall despite her taller than average height. She has to stretch her body and he has to bend his but neither of them mind.

It's entirely too passionate for two teens who are practically strangers but they don't waste any time thinking too hard about it.

 

A firework kiss... wouldn't describe what they were feeling right now. It was more like the match that lights the fuse. They're an entanglement of tender touches, now lost somewhere between rapture and carelessness.

 

"Hey Jug, look what I-" Forsythe opens the door to Jughead's room, small box in hand, and stops in his track as the couple practically springs apart from the kiss. "Never mind! I'll come back late-"

 

"It's fine, dad. What was it you needed?" Jughead rubs his head sheepishly and picks his beanie up off of the floor to readjust it back where it belongs. _How humiliating._

 

"Oh no, no! You kids go back to whatever it is you guys were doing." He smiles knowingly and closes the door with a wink.

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

It's the same ellipsis that always catches them in the act of awkwardness. The same omission of speech that is relentless in its affections for haunting the two raven haired teens.

 

"I should-"

 

"I'm gonna-"

 

They speak in tandem and then stop out of courtesy for the other.

 

"What?"

 

"No, go ahead."

 

"No, no, it's okay, really."

 

"What were you gonna say?"  Jughead doesn't want to be the one to take the lead and luckily for him, he doesn't have to.

 

"I should go... call Betty!" Veronica needs to tell her about this but doesn't want to seem like the kind of girl to kiss and tell. "I missed a call from her earlier and I forgot to call back. She'll be worried."

 

"Yeah, yeah, cool." He shoots weird finger-guns at her and for no reason other than his head not being completely screwed on right. "Cool. Cool. I'm gonna just finish in here. Straightening things up and whatnot."

 

If the scenario they were in had called for it, she would have been amused, and maybe had laughed or made fun of him for it. The situation had _not_ called for it.

 

"Okay." She doesn't want them to end on an uncomfortable note."Let's go to Pop's later, though. Our parents are going out to some fancy restaurant downtown but I'm not really feeling up to it. Unless you are?"

 

He shakes his head. "That sounds good, I've been craving Pop's."

 

"Great!" She's thankful that things are smoothed over this quickly between them. "I'll call Betty."

________

 

It's easier to share food when they sit on the same side of the booth. Jughead learns this when she slides into his side of the booth after complaining about having to reach over the table to steal a few of his fried mushrooms.

 

Betty and Jason arrive shortly after them, taking their seats on their usual side of the booth. Jason tells them that he and Betty are just coming out of a movie at the Bijou, _A Streetcar Named Desire._ They talk for a while, several plates of finger-foods come and go, and the night is almost stretching on into the early hours of the morning before Betty and Jason have to leave.

 

"Our parents will be worried if we don't  go home soon. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Jason is the first to leave the booth, pulling Betty up with him. "Jug, are we still on for Wednesday? It's been a while since we got to hang with each other."

 

"Definitely. I'm gonna kick your ass in _Street Fighter_." Jason laughs his comment off.

 

"You said that last time." Jughead rolls his eyes at him.

 

"I'm feeling a little luckier this time around, Jason." Jughead has a newfound confidence that he feels has something to do with the beauty sitting next to him.

 

"I bet you are." If there's anything in this world that Jason understands, it's that the right girl can make a boy have a whole lot of self-esteem. He's happy Jughead has found her.

 

" _Boys_." Betty is exasperated with the friendly competition these two boys have always had.

 

She checks her watch and gasps.

 

"I didn't even realize how late it was, I have to be home at 11:00!" Betty grabs her coat and kisses Veronica on the cheek, "I'll see you two at school tomorrow!"

 

"Bye, guys!"

 

The ding of the bell above the door signals their departure. Veronica asks him if they can stay a while longer, not quite ready to let such a fun night end so soon. _Who am I to deny her?_ Jughead thinks to himself and agrees to her request.

 

To any random spectator, they are at odds.

 

Sometimes he's laughing at a silly little joke and puns she makes involving riddles and ravens and writing desks, and she looks up at him with those beautiful charcoal eyes, crinkling around the edges with the force of her smile.

 

Other times, they argue back and forth heatedly, but with no real fire. Glares are exchanged commonly, with snide remarks and accidental laughter. He comments on the current status of the economy, a subject she doesn't expect him to broach.

 

Economy was something she was well versed in, her father used to bring her to the New York Stock Exchange when she was younger. And for some odd reason, he was too.

 

"My father used to keep an eye on the stock market through the news." He explains when he sees her complexed look. "Said he was gonna invest in some, but I'm not really sure if he ever did."

 

She rests her head on her hand, admiring the way his shoulders bounce when he chuckles. He looks at her with stars in his eyes.

 

To any genuine observer, they're perfect for one another.

 

A matching pair of tall, dark, handsome and mysterious personified into two. It's uncommon to see a couple match in both physical appearance and in wits.

 

And to an unfamiliar redheaded, that watches them from a corner, they look like people he'd like to get to know.

________

 

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_To someone on the outside peering in, it would've looked like there were four people in that booth. But I was there, and I can tell you. Really, there was only two: a raven-haired princess and the luckiest raven-haired boy in the universe._

_For one shining moment, we were just kids._

_Those bright neon lights of Pop's keeping the darkness at bay. Giving way, as all nights must, to a morning of reckonings._

________

 

     The morning after the kiss, the young Joneses pull on their school clothes: A worn leather jacket, a crown beanie and a shabby pair of converse. A little black dress, a string of signature pearls, and in-season Louboutins.

 

Smithers, the building attendant, offers them a ride when they reach the lobby of their apartment but they respectfully decline. The Chevy pickup truck is more agreeable when compared to the formality of the family Rolls-Royce.

 

He carries her book bag and opens the door for her before rushing to the other side.On the way, her fingers brush against the hand he uses to shift gears when she reaches for the radio. The diamond of her ring scraping against his bare knuckles. An action that doesn't go unnoticed or without a smirk or two.

 

A serpents eyes peer into his as he watches her nimble fingers turn the dials for the radio. His own serpent rests on the steering wheel and Jughead has an idea.

 

"Hey..." Jughead says. "Can I take you somewhere? After practice, maybe?"

 

"Depends." She shrugs. "Is it someplace I've been before?"

 

"Does that matter to you?" He's curious. "And no, I don't think you've been there before."

 

"I like the idea of going places I've never been before, it's romantic." She says matter-of-factly.

 

He wants to take her to the Whyte Wyrm. It'll be good for her to socialize with some of the Serpents. She should start her trials soon and he wants her to be comfortable with the people who are going to initiate her.

 

"Well good, because I wanna take you to the Wyrm." She snaps her head in his direction.

 

"The Wyrm?" She wants to know if he's yanking her chain. "Really?"

 

Jughead can practically see the wheel in her head churning, "Yeah, you'll start the trials soon, anyways. You could meet Hot Dog."

 

"Yes! I forgot about the trials. I've done my studying though, so it's no worry." Veronica was able to recite the laws of the Serpents since she was old enough to talk. One of the perks to having both of your parents being gang-members.

 

"Studying?" The thought intrigued him. What could she have studied?

 

"Well, duh. You didn't think I'd come unprepared, did you?" She can tell he did by the way he lifts his eyebrows.

 

"I didn't know there was anything to study." Jughead smirks, he was raised into Serpent life, everything he knows is stitched into his DNA. Into the very fiber of his being.

 

She wasn't as lucky to actually learn anything else about the Serpents besides her parents limited knowledge so she made herself remember every detail they'd told her and research some on her own.

 

"In the 1930s, the Serpents first started as a union of Native and Latin Americans against oppression by the Blossom Maple Syrup company. They had been forcing both groups to work long days with short paychecks. Our Great, Great grandfathers were the leaders of both groups who became best friends." She speaks with pride. She could tell the story a thousand times and never get bored.

 

Being in her ancestral hometown made her feel immersed in the history of Serpent Culture. It made her proud to be a direct descendant of Great, Great Grandfather Lodge. "They broke ties with the Blossom Family and in times of struggle, the two groups found refuge in each other and eventually merged as one. They started residing in the Southside, henceforth dubbing themselves the Southside Serpents."

 

"This act divided Riverdale into two, the North and the South and started a rivalry between them. South-siders have been feuding with the North-siders ever since."

 

He was impressed. She really did know her stuff. "Well, Gee, you make me sound like an amateur. I'm impressed."

 

"You're not an amateur, Juggiekins, you just aren't as good as me." She plays, puffing her shoulders out and sitting up straighter.

 

"I take that back." He huffs. She feigns surprise.

 

"You can't take that back! You said it already!" Veronica slaps him lightly on his shoulder.

 

"I take it back!" He sticks his tongue out at her, trying hard to keep his eyes on the road. He's nearly pulling into the parking lot when she pinches his cheek.

 

"You can't!" She says loudly.

 

"I'm taking it back!" He says louder than her.

 

He pulls into an empty space and puts the car in park. He faces her head-on, she glares at him and he glares right back. His angular features become sharper and a heat rises within her.

 

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes. It's hot and heavy and sticky. They fill the space between them until their faces are inches apart. Her eyelids drop halfway and she's looking at his lips, he watches and gets high on the feeling that she wants him just as bad.

 

Slowly, as if trying not to startle an unaware animal, he lifts his hand to caress her cheek. Her smooth, soft, plump cheek that feels like silk on his skin. She holds the hand that touches her face, prompting him closer to her, so that their lips may finally meet again.

 

Their eyes close and their lips are just beginning to meet when a football landing on his windshield startles them out of their trance.

 

"What the fuck." Veronica is not pleased at the sudden interruption.

 

"Oh look, it's the rich kids from the Goonies." He looks up at Reggie Mantle and his pack of goons as they laugh. One of them lingers at the back, watching them with an odd intensity that unsettles Jughead.

 

He's the one to jog forward and retrieve their football. He grins as he knocks on the window and motions for Jughead to roll it down.

 

"Hey, did you need something?" Jughead tries his best to be polite.

 

"Yeah, I'm sorry about the football, it was an accident." He tosses the football back to Reggie, giving the occupants of the truck a half view of his bare abs as his shirt rides up. Jughead glances at his wife and is relieved to see that she isn't drooling over him, instead she reapplies her lipgloss in the mirror.

 

"Don't worry about it." Jughead opens his door and the boy is forced to move out of his way.

 

Veronica steps out with her books in hand and Jughead silently takes them from her. "We should stop by my locker and drop these things off. I'll feel bad if you carry them all day."

 

"It's no trouble, Ronnie. Besides, if I don't do it, I'm sure all of the other guys in school will  just be lining up for the position." He jokes as she holds him by the crook of his arm.

 

"We can't have that, now can we?" Veronica's quip goes unanswered as the boy from earlier taps her on the shoulder.

 

"I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. My name's Archie. Archie Andrews." _Gee, this kid is persistent_. He sticks his hand out for them to shake and Jughead finds that his grip is alarmingly strong.

 

"Jughead Jones III." _Doesn't this kid know how to shake someone's hand without using all of their strength?_ A strong sense of familiarity overtakes her senses.

 

"Veronica Jones." She nearly yelps as he uses the same amount of force on her dainty hands as well.

 

"Nice to meet you both." He says brightly. "You guys are siblings, right?"

 

"No, actually. This is my... wife." The words feel strange actually coming out of his mouth. Sure, he's said it before but, it doesn't make it any less weird.

 

Archie is greatly surprised at the revelation. "Oh, man, my bad. I just thought that since you guys shared the same last name and you guys are so young..."

 

"We should go, Jug. Class starts soon." Jughead can't seem to break his gaze away from this boy, though. _Have I met him before?_ He can't seem to shake the feeling that he knows him.

 

"Jug?" She has to tug him along by his arm, up the steps and into the main hallway of the school.

 

Everyone stares as they walk past. Veronica is used to it but Jughead not so much. He glares back at some of the students and a few of them even snap pictures.

 

"Those two are the ones who got married this weekend, right?" The raven haired couple seem to be the topic of the Riverdale rumor mill today and probably the next week until people realize they're not all that interesting.

 

"I heard that they're cousins and that all of those Serpent trash are inbreds. Apparently, it's like illegal for them to marry outside of their clan or whatever."

 

"He's not even on her level, I mean he's so grungy and badass. And she's so pretty and chic."

 

"The Serpents have always been beneath the rest of society but now that the Lodges are socializing with them..."

 

"Someone told me he murders people for fun. I mean, it makes sense, right? He's hanging out with those Serpents all day long." A girl whispers to her friend as they pass.

 

Harmless rumors that are too absurd to be true. These people should really learn to take things with a grain of salt.

 

"He was... odd." Jughead says as they reach her locker. He leans against the lockers next to hers and hands her books to her one by one as she places them neatly into her locker. "I feel like I know him from somewhere. _Archie Andrews?_ "

 

The name rolls off of his tongue and he tests the way it sounds.

 

"I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. He looks an awful lot like Jason. And nearly every other ginger in this town." It was like the Weasley family lived in Riverdale. "I don't think I've ever seen so much red in my life."

 

She tries to ease his tension with a joke and unsurprisingly, it works.

 

"It's the syrup. Made from Red Maple trees." He says snidely. "They bathe themselves in it. Gets to their head and turns them ginger."

 

Her giggle is like a silver bell and he smirks at his own joke. Speaking of bells, the school bell rings and people begin to gravitate towards their first period of the day.

 

"You're terrible." She shuts her locker, balancing both her History book and her new Kate Spade handbag in one arm. "C'mon, the bell's just rang and I'm not gonna be partners with Dilton Doiley again. As nice as he is, it's like sitting next to a water fountain."

 

He cringes at the thought. For as many years as Dilton has had his retainer on, he still doesn't know how to not spit when he talks.

 

"Alright, Alright. You better be up to date with Euro or I'm not having you as my partner." He let's her pull him along, dragging his feet a little.

 

"I'm an ace in Euro." She brags.

________

 

 _Archie Andrews. Boy, does he get under my skin._ Jughead scowls down at him from high upon the bleachers by the football field.

 

The Vixens are practicing their new routine and that _annoying little piece of shit_ keeps looking in Veronica's direction.

 

"Fucking asshole." He murmurs as a stray football lands near where Veronica waits for her part in the routine. She picks it up and looks for the person who threw it. It's Archie Andrews and he smiles broadly, jogging up to her in a stupid slow-motion kind of way.

 

 _How'd he get onto the football team in the first place?_ Jughead knows that he must be another rich kid that bought his way into the team. _No wonder he hangs with Reggie Mantle._

 

From where he sits, Jughead can see her smile politely and nod her head. Veronica simply hands it back to him and refocuses on watching the other girls but he doesn't get the hint and says something to her.

 

Jughead looks away, his features contorted sharply into a scowl. Veronica looks up at him from the ground and becomes distracted by his sour face. She misses her cue.

 

"VERONICA!" Cheryl shrieks at her to start dancing. Her moves are less graceful this time and she keeps glancing up at him.

 

"GO HOME, HOBO!" Cheryl speaks through a megaphone and Jughead flips her off. The bird comes flying right back at him from pale fingers and cherry red fingernails.

 

_What's his problem?_

________

 

"If you don't want to wait for me at practice, I can always call Smithers or André to come and pick me up." Veronica says coldly as soon as they reach his old truck. She throws her sports bag in the back next to a large sack of potatoes and stops to look at his still salty face.

 

"What are you talking about?" Really, he doesn't want to know. He's still pissed at that _Andrews_ boy. He looks at her from across the truck bed.

 

"You sat there on the bleachers the whole time with an attitude." Veronica doesn't make any moves to get into the truck. " If you don't want to wait for me, go home."

 

"It's not about that, Veronica." Jughead doesn't know what he's saying. He's too busy looking for that asshole. "That's silly."

 

"Silly?!" If she wasn't icy enough before, she is now. "Am I some kind of joke to you? I missed my cue because I was too focused on why you were so upset!"

 

"You're blaming that on me?! I'm not the one that was making goo-goo eyes at Archie Andrews!" He knew deep in his heart that she couldn't have cared less for the new ginger in town but, it made him feel better about being a jerk to have something to say as well.

 

"Goo-Goo eyes? Is that what this is about, _Forsythe_?" He looks sharply at her when she says his real name. "You think that I'd cheat on you?"

 

"What? No!" He hadn't even considered that. "It's not you I'm worried about."

 

He spots Jason and Betty walking towards them, Cheryl lingers behind them to talk with Archie.

 

Veronica looks in the same direction that he is and everything clicks in her mind. "You're _jealous_!"

 

He doesn't look at her.

 

"You're jealous! Hahah!" She thinks it's hilarious that he sat up there like a child, pouting the entire practice. "You're so totally jealous!"

 

He refuses to admit it or to look at her. "Get in or I'm leaving you."

 

"You know, I'm rethinking this Wyrm thing. It might not be a good idea, though." Jughead knows how the Serpents can get and if worse comes to worse, he'll be dragging Veronica out in a suitcase. "The Serpents can get a little rowdy."

 

"I don't mind."  She promises.

________

 

     "Hey, Jug! That thing you ordered finally came in!" Toni yells from behind the bar as he makes his entrance into the Wyrm.

 

"Great, I'll take it home with me today." He opens the door wide enough so that his wife can peek out from behind him.

 

"Is that who I think it is?" Toni looks at Jughead in excitement. He nods his head. "Well, it's about damn time!"

 

She rushes out from behind the bar and envelops Veronica in a bone-crushing hug.

 

"Wow, you're really strong." She squeaks, still managing to hug Toni back.

 

"Hey, everybody!" Everyone in the room stops what they're doing to look in Toni's direction. She pulls Veronica forward. "Look who's here!"

 

Shouts of welcome ring throughout the bar and several people hug her in the same manner Toni did. The Serpents are like family and now that the Lodge child has finally showed face, there's no stopping them from getting 16 years worth of missed time back.

 

"Little cousin, it's great to see you." Sweet Pea lifts her up and spins her around. She'd nearly forgotten that they were cousins, it's been so long since he last came to visit with his dad and they didn't get to talk much during the wedding. "Can we get her a drink?!"

 

"I'm on it!" Toni rushes back behind the bar.

 

"So, this is where the great _Sebastian Lodge_ spends all his time?" Veronica looks around.

 

He shushes her and puts his hand over her mouth urgently. "Don't call me by my government name! It's Sweet Pea here!"

 

Jughead watches their interaction amusedly and his brow quirks up, " _Sebastian_?"

 

"And what about it, _Forsythe_?" He defends.

 

"Touché."

 

"Oh, move over, you jerks. Stop hogging her." Fangs Fogarty puts his arm around Veronica and leads her to the bar where he coerces her into taking a quick shot of tequila. "We've all been waiting to meet you. We've heard so much about you from your father."

 

"When he's _especially_ drunk, he practically weeps about how great you are." Fangs has seen Hiram Lodge in that state only once before and the memory of it was enough to keep him laughing for a long time.

 

"Sounds like my father." She remembers one night where both her parents were crying and crying about how she was growing up so fast and that she deserved the world. They remind her of how special she really is.

 

"Salem should be around here somewhere but I'm not sure where he is right now." Fangs sighs, exhausted with how he's always the one who Salem picks on.

 

" _Salem_? He's still making trouble?" Salem was Veronica's 12 year old cousin, Sebastian's little brother. He's awfully quick, terribly smart, and incredibly wicked when he wants to be.

 

When he used to visit them, he would wreak havoc on their apartment building. Veronica is still afraid of elevators.

 

"Yeah, last week he got in trouble at school for setting multiple stink bombs off in the air vents . They still don't know how he got them into the air vents." Fangs sighs deeply and takes another shot. "He scares me, you know.

 

"You're time is up, Fangs! Time to die!" The voice of a child trying to make his voice sound deeper echoes around them as a streak of black hair rushes past them. Fangs screams in high pitch and Salem holds a toy knife to his neck. "It's my turn to talk to cousin Ronnie!"

 

"Okay, Okay!" Fangs is released and he gasps to breathe, clutching his neck protectively.

 

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" Veronica pats Fangs on his back.

 

"He's fine. He's just a little _weak_ is all." Salem is back to his normal voice as he taunts Fangs, who lunges for his neck.

 

"Come here, you spooky little fucker!" Salem dashes off in the direction of the stage. Fangs doesn't bother to chase him.

 

"You see that? We don't keep knives in the bar because of him." Fangs points accusingly in the direction Salem scampered off in. He’s nursing an entire bottle of tequila before Veronica is whisked away again.

 

"Tia Selena! How nice to see you again!" Veronica greets her aunt-in-law.

 

"It's like a Lodge family reunion in here! Oh, except your Tio Santiago, he's out on another assignment with your father. He's been talking for ages about how he and his cousin are going to get back to 'the good old days.' Or something like that." She speaks in a thick Spanish accent and rolls her eyes. "As far as I know, the _'good old days'_ were when they were kids and used to pickpocket for fun."

 

"Aren't they a little old for that?" _And isn't that a little illegal?_

 

"My point exactly!" She laughs heartily. "I missed you darling."

 

"I missed her too, mama! And I still haven't got to show her any of my cool things around here!" Salem comes slinking down a support beam from one of the rafters near the ceiling.

 

"How many times have I told you not to go up there? And how do you keep getting up there?" Salem ignores her and dodges her attempt to grab him.

 

He gets a hold of Veronica's hand and pulls her along with him through the crowd of people. "Salem, where are we going?"

 

"Don't you want to see how I got up there?" He talks quietly, pulling her down close to his face. "If I show you, you have to promise not to show anyone else... I'll have to kill you if you do."

 

She holds out her pinky for him to take. "I promise."

 

"Good! Come on." He shows her a few loose panels in the wall behind the stage. "This tunnel I dug has let-outs all over. I can get from one place to the other in a matter of seconds. I can even get into the King's office! Wanna see?"

 

Veronica declines. "As much fun as that sounds, maybe another time. What else have you got?"

 

"I've got this bad boy." He pulls out a series of small parts that he snaps together within seconds. "It's a potato launcher. Sometimes I take it down to the docks and fire it at a few of those dumb Ghoulies. They never figure out where the potato's come from but of course, they're all fast asleep when I leave."

 

She laughs. "I'm not supporting you in your fiendish ways but, just don't get caught, Okay?"

 

"Me?" He gasps. "Never!"

 

"Veronica?!" Jughead's voice is just beyond the curtains. Salem quickly disbands his gun and shoves it back into the crawlspace, and together they fix the panels back into place just before Jughead pushes the curtains aside.

 

"Here! I'm here!"

 

"I thought I saw Salem pull you back here." The two look each other up and down. "I thought he did something to you."

 

"Me? You wound me, sir!" Salem holds the place above his heart. "I'd never do anything to hurt anyone! I'm an _angel_!"

 

"Mhmmm. Yeah, yeah, we can drop the whole innocent act. You're a spooky little boy, Salem. I know what you've been doing out by the docks." Jughead ruffles his hair. "I brought you another sack. It's in the back of my truck. Remember what I told you, I have nothing to do with you."

 

"Thanks, Jug! You're the best!" Salem dashes off to retrieve his sack of potatoes for his launcher.

 

"Tsk, Tsk. Shame on you, Jughead."

 

"He reminds me of my little brother, Jellybean." Her husband shrugs and rubs the back of his neck.

 

"Ah, I see." She understands that it must be hard for him to live without his brother.

 

"He wants to meet you, ya know." She's surprised. "He called me before the wedding."

 

"What did he say?" She sees the tenderness in his eyes and gives him a soft smile.

 

"He said he really wanted to come home. Said he was sad he couldn't come to the wedding. And that I need to call him and tell him about it." Jughead smiles fondly.

 

"He sounds lovely."

 

"Yeah. He's a real good kid." Jughead swallows the lump in his throat. "Anyways, we should get out there, there are some people you haven't met yet."

 

"Jughead?" She grabs his hand lightly before he leaves.

 

"Yeah, Ronnie?" His eyes are filled with images tears as he turns to her.

 

"The next time you talk to him... Can you tell him I really want to meet him too? Maybe give him my number or something?"

 

"Of course. He'll be so happy." A single tear slips down his cheek as he hugs her close. Tenderly, he kisses the top of her head. "Thank you."

________

 

By the end of the night, nearly all of the Serpents are well acquainted with their leaders daughter-in-law. Even with her not taking her trials, she's a Serpent by bond. The thought fills her exhausted heart and when she thinks about all of the family she got to see today, she thinks about the one family member she didn't get to meet.

 

Jellybean.

 

She hears voices through the wall and realizes that he's probably the reason Jughead rushed into his room. He was so excited to call his brother. Her heart melts at the thought.

 

The phone at her bedside rings as she receives her own phone call. She picks up after a few rings.

 

A ghostly voice gives her chills through the phone and she nearly drops the handset. "V, they found her."


	7. Chapter Seven: The Tell-Tale Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Rickstheraven14, whom I consider a friend.

     A ghostly voice gives her chills through the phone and she nearly drops the handset. "V, they found her."

 

"Betty?" Veronica only knows one person who calls her V.

 

"They found her! I'm so sorry. I didn't know who else to call. Jason isn't answering and my parents are out of town and everything's going to shit. Please, help me, V!" Betty is hysterical, and Veronica can hear her tears through the phone.

 

"Betty? Where are you? I'm coming right now! Stay where you are." She rushes to pull on a coat.

 

"I'm at Sweetwater. They found her, V." Veronica realizes what that means for Betty. Her sister's body was finally found.

 

"I'm coming." She hangs up and knocks on Jughead's door. He's still talking to Jellybean.

 

"Jughead, we have to go! Betty needs us!" Without question, he's grabbing his keys, pulling his jacket on and springing down to the lobby with her.

 

"Where are we going?" He asks.

 

"Sweetwater River."

________

 

     They see the flashing red and blue through the wood before they even reach the rivers edge. Dozens of police cars are parked around a central spot where a body lay zipped up in a black bag.

 

"Betty?" Veronica spots her in the back of an ambulance, handcuffed, sopping wet and rocking back and forth. "B!"

 

"V?!" Betty looks up at her and both Jughead and Veronica race towards to their best friend.

 

"B! I'm so glad you're okay! What happened? Why are you all wet?" The onslaught of questions goes unanswered as Betty throws her soaking wet body into her arms and starts sobbing.

 

"They found Polly! And..." Betty doesn't finish her statement and Veronica looks back at Jughead and nods her head towards one of the policemen.

 

He nods back and walks his way over to a friend of his fathers. "Sheriff Keller."

 

"Junior Jones. Sorry I couldn't make it on Saturday, we've been really busy down at the station. I told Kevin to bring my gift to you. See it?" Sheriff Keller leans against the hood of his car, facing out towards the dark river.

 

"Yes, sir. Thank you. It was a real nice pair of coffee mugs." Jughead recalls the mugs that now sit in one of the cupboards at the Pembrooke. "What happened here?"

 

The Sheriff doesn't speak for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. "... Between you and me, Junior... Take Betty home, tuck her in, make her get some sleep. She has a long day at the station ahead of her tomorrow."

 

"I thought this case was closed?" _Why would Betty need to be at the station?_

 

"Not anymore. Polly Cooper was found with deep lacerations around her throat." The Sheriff sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose to fight an oncoming headache. "Betty was thrashing around in there, screaming her head off as they brought her up, has to handcuff her. She’s unusually strong for a girl her size, even took three of our boys to get her down.”

 

“She’s always been that way. In kindergarten, she pushed a 6th grader down the slide because he made fun of Cheryl.” It’s a bittersweet memory now, in light of the situation.

 

“... She’s a good kid. That’s why I’m working so hard for this case. I want to make sure that Polly finds justice.”

 

"Justice? Betty said she drowned." Everyone knows what Betty claimed happened that day. "... Are you saying that she _lied_?"

 

The Sheriff sighs.

 

"We won't find out until the autopsy, but unless she slit her own throat, I think it’s clear what’s going on here.”

________

 

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_I think many of us, maybe the entire town, had been hoping against hope that somehow Polly Cooper hadn't drowned on July 4th._

_That we'd come to school Tuesday morning, and there Polly would be._

_Or that we'd see her and Betty in a booth at Pop's._

_But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of her bloated, water-logged body, a corpse with a deep lacerations around its neck, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel, or the telltale beating of a guilty heart-_

 

The intercom picks up and Principal Weatherbee's voice disrupts the odd silent buzz of his students. Two Blossoms, Two Joneses, A singular Keller and no Coopers sit together in the student lounge today. No one is really in the mood for chatter.

 

After tucking Betty back in at her place and assuring that she was really okay, Jughead wakes up with bags under his eyes. Veronica, on the other hand, looks like a princess with her fresh face and clear eyes.

 

"Good morning, students. This is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally. So let me state clearly, it is happening, as scheduled.

Now, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller."

 

A gruff sounding man takes over the mic and Kevin rolls his eyes. 

 

"Most of you already know the details, but your classmate Polly Cooper's body was found late last night. So as of this morning, Polly's death is now being treated as a homicide. It is an open and ongoing investigation. That'll be all."

 

If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Polly's killer, or anything about what happened to him on July 4th, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. You can speak with me or Principal Weatherbee. A death like this wounds us all."

 

"Let's not let Polly down. " Principal Weatherbee's words are muffled as if he were crying and trying to mask it with his hands. And with those departing words, the Principal and Sheriff sign off.

 

A moment of intense stillness takes over the room, until Reggie Mantle swaggers through the doors, talking loudly with the same group of jocks that surrounded Veronica's locker a week before.

 

"And Sheriff Keller's grilling her, McCoy the Magnificent. 'Cause She'd want Cooper dead.

When she was, like, the only good flyer they had last year. And speaking of Polly, She should've sent the cops to you, Moose." He and his group sits themselves in various places around the room like vultures stalking their prey.

 

"Because here's another unsolved mystery." He turns to sneer at Kevin. "What exactly were you and Kevin doing at the river, huh? Or does being with the sheriff's son give you a free pass, Keller?"

 

"Reggie's just being a blowhard, Kev." Moose deflects his questions.

 

"I don't care what he says." Kevin has dirt on Reggie Mantle and if he didn't want everyone to know he was the one who ran over Midge Klump's dog and ran, he wouldn't push Kevin too hard.

 

"I mean, let's think about it." He quickly moves on from Kevin, finding a new target. "If a kid at Riverdale killed Polly, it's not gonna be a jock, right? Now let's be honest..." He pauses for dramatic affect.

 

"Isn't it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic Internet troll, too busy writing his manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak, like Jughead?" This gets a laugh all around the room and urges Veronica to attention.

 

"What was it like, Suicide Squad? When you slit Polly's throat? You didn't do stuff to the body, did you? Like... After?"

 

"It's called necrophilia, Reggie, can you spell it?" Jughead scoffs at him, hardly paying him any attention, though, Veronica is highly offended.

 

"Come here, you little..." He lunges for Jughead

 

"Hey shut the hell up, Reggie!" Veronica has a spitfire personality but her bite is just as bad as her bark.

 

"Stop that! Can't you see that some people here are upset!" Archie has Cheryl under his arm as he rubs her back in smooth circles.

 

"Boys." Cheryl warns them as the room suddenly becomes a lot more heated. Their are tears pooling at the corners of her eyes and her nails are digging into the canvas sofa. "Please, _don't_."

 

"What do you care, Lodge?" Reggie ignores both Archie and Cheryl and moves into Veronica's space but she doesn't back down. "The men are talking now, sweetheart, best if you don't interrupt, running that pretty little mouth of yours."

 

She fizzes with anger. In New York, she was just as powerful as any man because she was a Lodge, through and through, and that alone commanded the respect of others. It was infuriating that she wouldn't be treated as equal to boys like Reggie Mantle here in Riverdale.

 

"Hey, who the hell do you think you're talking to, Mantle?" Jughead doesn't mind that Reggie talks to him like that, but Veronica is a different story. He steps between the two, tucking his wife behind him and stares him down. Archie Andrews also steps in, much to the dismay of Jughead.

 

"Sit down, Wednesday Addams. News Flash, even if you come running to her rescue, she still won't lay your creepy ass." Jughead breaks into a snarl, he tries not to be too ashamed of the things he says about him in front of Veronica. "Why don't you run back to the Southside with the rest of the garbage?"

 

"Fuck you, Mantle." She manages to spit in his face. He gets angry and charges toward her, easily blocked by Jughead, who shoves him back with strength that catches Reggie off-guard.

 

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" His odd fixation on attacking only Veronica is unusual for someone whose sole purpose is to be the asshole Jock who lives for bullying others.

 

Archie urges him to quit before he gets himself hurt.

 

"Hey, Hey! Leave her!" Archie pulls Reggie back by his shoulder.

 

"Just leave them alone." Jason finally stands to defend him. It may not look like it, but Jughead has a considerable amount of muscles under those layers of baggy clothes.

 

"Holy crap, Blossom. Did you and Donnie Darko kill her together?" Veronica wonders if he knows that he sounds completely idiotic. "Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?"

 

"SHUT THE HELL UP, REGGIE!" Cheryl Blossom, surprisingly, is the first to attack. Her nails find their way deep into his skin and Jason's late reaction to her let's her hands get caught in pulling his hair before Jason has her by the waist and throws her over his shoulder.

 

"Jason! Let me down! Now!" Her voice is a growl that trembles with fury. She starts to hit Jason on his back. She starts to scream bloody murder.  "Jason! Let me down! You traitor!"

 

In wake of Cheryl's violent attack, it only takes a split second for Veronica to shove Jughead out of her way, have Reggie by the collar, cock her fist back, and knock him out ice-cold. He drops to the floor in slow motion, and the crowd goes wild.

 

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Reggie goes down with a loud thud and his friends gather around him, checking to see if he was alright.

 

When he wakes up, he'll have learned a lesson, one he won't soon forget:  _Never cross a Lodge... Or, a Jones._

________

 

"Someone go get Josie, please!"

 

Moose Mason runs off in the direction of the theatre to go get Reggie's longtime girlfriend, Josie McCoy. 

 

"Veronica..." Jughead sees no pity in her eyes as she looks down at the body slumped against the floor. "I can't believe you did that."

 

“No one insults my friends and gets away with it.” A large part of her, the part that knows what her parents will say to her, wants to cry. She can't believe she did that either. It's just... damn did he piss her off.

 

And a small part of her, the angry part, wants to kick him while he's down.

 

"Reggie?!" Josie bursts into the room, spotting her boyfriend on the ground. "Babe!"

 

She walks briskly towards him to cradle his head on her lap. "What the _fuck_ happened?"

 

Everyone looks at Veronica. "I punched him."

 

"What the hell? This is my _boyfriend_! I'm not gonna allow you to push people around just because you're a fucking Lodge. Or, I guess that's not the case now, is it?" She glares up at both Jughead and Veronica.

 

"Reggie told people that you Serpent trash should stay on your side of town, this proves he was right. You guys are animals!" Josie is spitting mad and her speech riled up the crowd.

 

All eyes are on them and suddenly, they're outsiders in their own school. Veronica Jones, for as long as she has lived, has never felt like she didn't belong.

 

Now that she does, she relishes the feeling as well as she relishes the weight of her husband's hand, slipping into hers.

________

 

'GO TO HELL SERPENT SLUT' is written on her locker in large blood red letters the next day in school. Something similar is written on her husbands too.

 

There was no doubt about it, the Joneses were having a bit of a tough time these last two days. With her parents reprimanding both her and her husband last night, she couldn't afford to step even another toe out of line.

 

"I gotta give it to them," He helps her wipe hers off with the moist towelettes she carries in her purse. "Whoever did this... they work fast."

 

"Let's see how fast they are when I catch whoever did this." She scowls, wiping harshly at the blood. "I have a sneaking suspicion that Mantle of one of his goons did this, maybe even Josie."

 

"Or maybe the rest of the population here that hates us now." When finished, a pile of dirty red towels are piled at the bottoms of her locker. "I'll go clean mine now, Weatherbee would be the one to punish me for 'graffiti' on my locker."

 

"Graffiti?" She scoffs. "This is a hate crime. I'll help."

 

"You're not wrong. Are you sure? The bell just rang, if you hurry, you can still make it to first period on time." _And people say that chivalry is dead!_

 

"Are you kidding? In times of trouble, we need to present a united front." At least, that's what her parents say. "Besides, I was thinking, Why don't we just skip first period today? Let's go have breakfast down at Pop's"

 

The idea was as tempting as the mischievous smile on her angelic face. He reviews the pros and cons in his head.

 

_Pro: He gets to eat._

_Con: He gives those assholes the satisfaction of thinking they ran him out of school._

_Pro: Veronica's looking at him with that twinkle in her eye._

_Con: He risks running into Mr. Lodge, who will surely kill him after the stunt he pulled last night. (He doesn't want to bring it up)_

_Pro: He can make sure Veronica eats more. She's been skipping meals lately. (He likes a woman with some curves)_

 

The last pro really does it for him.

 

"We own the restaurant, Jug. Pop Tate loves to prove himself and if we go, we show how much we appreciate his work. I know how much you love him." Veronica prompts him.

 

He's knew that she owned it, along with many other properties scattered all over town, but the only thing that Jughead ever imagined he owned was his father's double-wide trailer after he passed.

 

"We?" She nods in response.

 

"What's mine is yours." She states simply. "Jesus, Jughead, didn't you read the contract we signed? At the wedding?"

 

His face is blank.

 

She decides to jog his memory. "I, Veronica Valentine Lodge, will henceforth be known as Veronica Valentine Jones. Blah, Blah, Blah, I relinquish the sole ownership of any properties in my name to share with Forsythe Pendleton Jones III indefinitely."

 

Jughead remembers signing the contract, "You actually read that thing?"

 

"It's the first thing my father taught me, always read the fine print." He seriously didn’t know this kind of stuff?

 

“So, let me get this straight, I own half of everything that you do?” He wanted to make sure she wasn’t yanking his chain.

 

“Hmm. We own Pop’s, the Twilight Drive-In, the Bijou, we even own Southside High, temporarily.”

 

“Southside High? Why would we need to own an entire high school?” He should’ve went to Southside. He belonged with the Southsiders.

 

“We don’t need to own a high school. Our parents, however, do. He bought it in my name for tax reasons. For years, Southside High has been nearly bankrupt and the students there are hardly receiving any benefits from attending besides not getting sued by the state for excessive truancy.”

 

Her father had put this plan in motion months ago and discussed it with her once-in-a-while to get her opinion. Hiram Lodge just wanted to make it a more loving world for the his daughter and every single Serpent that would come after her.

 

“The kids there are treated like criminals because they live on the Southside. It’s practically crawling with cops. My dad is going to shut it down and make an apartment building for the workers of SoDale. Which I guess is the Serpents, he did offer them those jobs, right?”

 

“Yeah. That’s... pretty great of him. The Blossom family has actually bought most of them out of their homes. Another plan to run them out of town. Am I wrong to assume that the students will come here?” With the Serpents here...

 

“We won’t feel so out of place, anymore.” She runs her thumb across his knuckles while they walk. “I’m sorry, Jughead. About yesterday, I lost control and I did something that puts both of us at risk here.”

 

“It’s alright, Ronnie.” Jughead lifts her hand to his mouth and plants a small kiss over her knuckles. He’s deep in thought and she waits patiently for the cogs to stop turning. “What if this is the straw that breaks the camels back?”

 

She was wondering when he would ask. “I don’t know how well the Northsiders will react to the Southsiders invading their school but... they have no choice. By the end of next week, Southside High will be no more and Riverdale High will be a lot more crowded.”

 

“That fast?” Shouldn’t they give people notice?

 

“The faster they come here, the faster homeless Serpents have homes.” The poor families that live on the streets are bigger than the rivalry between North and South in Riverdale. “And the faster Southside students get better educations.”

 

Veronica takes out another pack of wipes as they reach Jughead’s locker. “This loser actually had the time to do both of our lockers.”

 

“Let’s just wipe it and go, I want some pancakes.” Jughead’s stomach grumbles loudly and he decides that the pit in his stomach is because of food and not the looming sense of impending doom he feels settle over Riverdale.

 

“Okay.” She smiles.

________

It’s Friday night, and after the Pep rally they had today, Riverdale High could really use a win. Veronica forces Jughead to come, although he showed little resistance. _Who would miss out on a chance to see their wife in a cute little cheerleading uniform?_

 

Certainly not Jughead Jones, for he sits low in the stands, not exactly cheering the bulldogs on but not complaining either.He types away on his laptop about a blonde ponytail who finally showed herself after what must’ve been the second most-worst week in her life.

 

Polly’s death was ruled a homicide, still open to investigation and with almost no suspects besides Betty Cooper, her own sister.

 

It’s half time now and the Bulldogs are 7-0. The Vixens are doing a spicy little number that draws cheers from the crowd faster than even Jason Blossom’s signature wave that usually sends everyone swooning. Josie and the Pussycats are singing their own rendition of Candy Girl.

 

Cheryl Blossom is also on the mic, revving up the crowd with different cheers.

 

_Hey!_

_Shawty you're my candy girl, the kind with the swirls_

_Oh so good, baby out of this world_

_Look so sweet, fell in love with your curves_

_Everytime you speak conversation like syrup_

_S-U-G-A-R, you ain't her_

_Oh, honey honey, put money on that girl_

_Let's keep it in the circle, you everything I deserve_

_Baby want your sugar, I'm ready to get served_

 

“C’mon, Riverdale!”

 

_Sugar! Oh, honey honey_

_You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you_

_Honey! Oh, sugar sugar_

_You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you_

 

“I can’t hear you!”

 

_I saw this girl, I wanna know her name_

_She got this body, it's driving me insane_

_'Cus I need a candy girl_

_Her kisses rock my world_

_Long legs, brown eyes_

_Ain't nobody look fancy girl_

 

Veronica steps into the center of attention and the crowd goes wild. Jughead didn’t know she could sing so well.

 

_Sugar! Oh, honey honey_

_You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you_

 

As if Polly Cooper had not disappeared that fateful day. As if she was right here with us, dazzling the crowd with an impressive somersault or backflip. There is joy. Happiness. Excitement.

 

_Say lil' mama want you do me that favor_

_I really wanna taste ya_

_36, 24, 36 flavors_

_Been around the globe in a laid back nature_

_Always on my mind shawty be my life savior_

_Sweet lil thang_

_Body insane_

_twerkin' that thang_

_Brown sugar be the name_

_Candy girl come get rid of my pain_

_Think about you all the time_

_Shawty you should be my dame_

 

... Until Cheryl catches a glance of soft blonde tresses held back by a blue headband and the back of a Vixens uniform.

 

_Sugar! Oh, honey honey_

_You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you_

_Honey! Oh, sugar sugar_

_You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you_

 

“POLLY!” Cheryl yells out into the air and the moment is shattered. She dashes from the platform she stands on and pushes through the crowd of girls to the girl with the headband.

 

The whole crowd watches intently. They watch as she grasps on the shoulder of the girl and spins her around. They watch as Cheryl’s face becomes sorely disappointed. And they watch as two police officers arrive on the scene.

 

Sheriff Keller is one of them. He walks directly up to her and begins to tell her something, but is interrupted by the principal.

 

“You can’t just interrupt half time, Sheriff.” Principal Weatherbee thinks of the public eye, right now, they’re standing in it.

 

“You're here for me, aren't you? Because of the autopsy?” Cheryl closes her eyes.

 

“We don't need to do this in front of your classmates, Cheryl.” The Principal is furious for the way Sheriff Keller showed up like this, he may very well be tormenting the young girl. He turns to Keller. “Don’t you have any decency?”

 

“It's all right, Principal Weatherbee. They'll find out soon enough.”

 

“Now, that won't be necessary-“ Weatherbee is determined to protect her.

 

“Wait, Cheryl, find out what?” The Sheriff vaguely knows that he’s into something. She can see it in his eyes.

 

“That I'm guilty.”

________

 

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_As shocking as those three words were, they were nothing compared to the secrets that Polly's body had given up during its autopsy._

_That Polly didn't die on July 4th, as we believed, but over a month later._

_Guilt. Innocence. Good. Evil. Life. Death. As the shadows around Riverdale deepened, the lines that separated these polar opposites blurred and distorted. "I'm guilty," Cheryl said during halftime that Friday night, but of what?_

 


	8. Chapter Eight: La Grande Illusion

_UNTITLED NOVEL - JUGHEAD JONES_

_The Coopers. The Stepfords of Riverdale._

_High school sweethearts who got married and had two beautiful daughters, Polly and Betty..._

_Until the Fourth of July happened._

_And now, we would hear from the person who was closest to her those days leading up to her disappearance..._

_Cheryl Blossom._

_How a childhood friendship turned into an epic, forbidden romance._

_How they became secretly engaged with her grandmother's blessing and her heirloom ring, and made plans to run away together, to start a new life._

_And how their dreams of escape went up in flames._

________

 

"When I said I was guilty, I didn't mean of killing Polly." Cheryl has been waiting to get this off of her chest for a while. "I loved her. She meant the world to me. I'd have done anything for her."

 

Her parents would surely die if they heard about this but with Polly dead, Cheryl throws caution to the wind.

 

"I'll tell you, but you have to know, we didn't want it to end like this." Surely, Cheryl didn't mean for the only person who loved her more than her brother to die.

 

"We understand, Cheryl. Just tell us what happened." Sheriff Keller prompts her.

 

"Where do I even begin? I have trouble distinguishing one thing from another."Her head pounds and she just wants to be rid of the weight dragging her down. She wants to take a nap. She wants to be in Polly's arms again.

 

"Just start from the beginning." Sheriff Keller's partner is a woman. No doubt there to put Cheryl at ease. She talks like she's a therapist. "That's where most stories start... tell me, Cheryl, where does your story start?"

 

"The start? Let me tell you... I've been living life in hell ever since the day I left my mother's womb."

________

 

     Cheryl's story... is absolutely riveting and she hasn't even begun. She has the Sheriff and the lady she labels a psychiatrist hanging on by the edge of their seats. She imagines their faces when she gets to the really interesting parts.

 

"My twin brother, Jason, is my soulmate. We're two sides of the same coin, really, except he wasn't born too lucky. Mother always disliked him. Father didn't care, he just wanted a little family he could put on his mantle and display at various special occasions."

 

"But, the thing Jason had, that I wanted, was love. Betty had loved him whole heartedly from the moment she laid eyes on him. It took him a little time to notice but, his heart was always with her. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to click with anybody like Jason did with Betty. And I tried and tried, yet... Nothing... No one."

 

No one knows where she's going with this, she's not even sure where she's going with this. But, then again, it _always_ ends with Polly, doesn't it?

 

"I searched and searched for boys that would love me. Cherish me. Make me feel safe... To no avail, apparently, before I realized something... Polly made me feel all of those things. Polly loved me. And Polly was there all along. I was scared at first, I told myself I was crazy for loving Polly the way that I did. But, how could something that felt so good, be wrong?" She recounts the moment she told Polly, the way she smelled, the way her body felt flush against her, the sparkle in her sky blue eyes.

 

"We began to see each other. Secretly. It's easy to disguise a relationship when no one suspects that you two could even be with each other like we were-" Cheryl's face turns the same red color as her hair and she looks like some kind of lobster.

 

"Cheryl, does that mean-" The woman doesn't have time to blush like Sheriff Keller and Cheryl do, she has a job here.

 

"Yes." Cheryl doesn't want to have to say it, not in front of a man her family had been friends with all these years. "That day... Betty wanted Polly to be happy. She came up with this grand plan to make Polly disappear, run away without really having to run. I was supposed to go too, but I had my doubts. Riverdale is the only home I've ever known, I didn't want to leave."

 

"Which day, Cheryl?" She barely registers the question, she doesn't care anymore.

 

"That day..."

 

"Which day?"

 

"..." Cheryl's getting extremely agitated with her questions. She closes her eyes to focus on calming the throbbing sensation that pains the back of her mind. She can't find it in herself to cry; it seemed as though all of her tears have been used already.

 

"Cheryl, which day?" _Fuck this lady._

 

"The Fourth of July!" Cheryl is frustrated with all of the questions. _Who was this lady anyways?_ "The Fourth of July, when Polly 'drowned.' I was there. I saw Polly go into the woods, I told her I'd join her soon... it would've been too suspicious if I was in the same accident she was. I was supposed to 'die' this week. I'm supposed to be 'burning' in a 'car accident' at the bottom of the cliff at Thornhill by now."

 

"I saw her all the way up until two days before she was found in that stupid river..." Her words are shocking. "She seemed off. Erratic even. She started hyperventilating about-"

 

Her story stops abruptly, suddenly wary of the ears listening to her story. _Who the hell is this lady?_

 

"Who are you?" The therapist lady seems taken aback.

 

"Who am I?" The lady squirms.

 

"My family funds the police department, lady. I know Sheriff Keller and everyone else who works here. But I don't know you... So, it begs the question, _Who the hell are you?_ " Cheryl watches her for any sign of defensiveness.

 

"This is not about _me_ , Cheryl. This is about _you_."

 

"Sheriff Keller, who the _hell_ is this lady?" The Sheriff asks himself the same thing.

 

"Actually, I'm not so sure myself... What did you say your name was?" He'd been too busy in the last two months to keep track of everyone, let alone new people.

 

"My name is Molly Spellman. I'm a school counselor." The lie registers with Cheryl as soon as it leaves this woman's mouth.

 

"No, you aren't." Cheryl knows exactly where she's seen her, she just wants to see this lady tell her lies.

 

"Who do you think I am, Cheryl?" So she wants to play the therapy card, huh?

 

She needs to speak privately with this woman.

 

"Sheriff... I'm feeling a little parched, could you run down to Pops and get me a strawberry milkshake?" A 50 dollar bill is slipped into his hand. "Get something for yourself, too, sir."

 

"Of course, I'll be right back." The entire police force is funded by the Blossoms and he was barely staying afloat as it is. If she asked him, he'd bend over backwards.

 

"I think you're a bullshitter, and a terrible liar." She deadpans.

 

"And what makes you think that?" A small smile turns the corner of Molly's face.

 

"Riverdale school counselors wouldn't call themselves counselors, they call themselves Mental Health Advocates. They stick to that name religiously." Cheryl has a sneaking suspicion that they think it makes them sound less taboo than psychiatry.

 

Because in Riverdale, you should already be in the nut-house if you need therapy.

 

"I work at an organization called the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Your parents called me after they heard about what you did at the football game. They wanted me to evaluate you, Cheryl." Cheryl nearly cackles at the revelation. Her dear mother has turned on her so easily.

 

"So you _lied_ to me, and the Sheriff, to make me feel at ease, so I'd feel comfortable with you? And what's the verdict, Ms. Spellman?" Either way this goes, Cheryl has a plan. Blackmail may be illegal, but Cheryl's living on the edge.

 

"I think the Sisters of Quiet Mercy can give you all the help you need. Silence and solitude are equal to serenity, Ms. Blossom." Wrong choice, lady.

 

"Mrs. Spellman, Am I correct to assume that you are of relation to Sabrina Spellman?" The woman perks up.

 

"Why, yes, that's my niece. Although, she's really more like a daughter. Her mother died-" I don't want to hear her whole life story, you cow.

 

"Great, Great. What I'm really getting at here... is that if you don't give that report to my parents in favor of me, I'll tell everyone about Sabrina's secret tryst with Mr. Jackson. The science teacher?" Having Kevin Keller as a best friend definitely had perks, she'd have to thank him later. Cheryl loves to see the small smirk slowly disappear on this smug lady's face. 

 

"I'm sure you've heard about that, right? Or, maybe I'll just tell them all about the abortion she had to add to the suspense of the story. And finally, we reach the climax of the story and I tell everyone how, shocker, she's still reaching her climax every Wednesday after school gets out in the Science room."

 

"Apparently, they have a lot of Chemistry, Mrs. Spellman." Cheryl cackles at her own joke. "Oh, don't worry, Mrs. Spellman, he's young and cute."

 

"I- I had no idea-" The woman is flustered, a combo of shocked, appalled, and downright furious.

 

"Of course you didn't, and nobody else will if you just do that one thing for me." Game. Set. Match. "Otherwise, Poor Sabrina will be a social pariah. An outcast. She'll be absolutely miserable."

 

"It was nice talking to you, Ms. Blossom." Molly stands up and collects her things. "I'm sure your parents will be very pleased to know that you are better off here in Riverdale, a perfectly healthy girl with a perfectly healthy life."

 

"Goodbye, Mrs. Spellman."

 

"Goodbye, Ms. Blossom."

________

 

     It's Saturday night and Veronica has done exceedingly well in all of her Serpent trials except the one she hasn't done yet.

 

The Serpent Dance.

 

She's wearing a long black trench coat to cover what he knows to be some kind of sexy lingerie. Part of him doesn't want the rest of the Serpents to see his wife in a state he hasn't even seen her in. And part of him wants to see her wrapped in black Serpent skin already.

 

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

 

The velvety voice comes out of thin air, the stage is dark and from a single spotlight, Veronica Jones is seen, scantily clad in black lace. She sways back and forth to the rhythm.

 

_You got me looking, so crazy my baby_

_I'm not myself lately I'm foolish, I don't do this_

_I've been playing myself, baby I don't care_

_Baby your love's got the best of me_

_Your love's got the best of me_

_Baby your love's got the best of me_

_Baby you're making a fool of me_

_You got me sprung and I don't care who sees_

_Cause baby you got me, you got me, oh you got me, you got me_

 

The entire pub is as quiet as it's ever been. Enraptured with the dancer. Even the women stop in their tracks and fall into the trap of the charcoal beauty.

 

_I look and stare so deep in your eyes_

_I touch on you more and more every time_

_When you leave I'm begging you not to go_

_Call your name two or three times in a row_

_Such a funny thing for me to try to explain_

_How I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame_

_And I still don't understand_

_Just how your love could do what no one else can_

 

To say her show was enchanting would be an understatement. This... this was absolutely intoxicating. A single, shapely figure dances lithely over the stage, singing in soft, seductive tones.

 

_Got me looking so crazy right now_

_Your love's got me looking so crazy right now_

_Got me looking so crazy right now_

_Your touch got me looking so crazy right now_

 

The dancer moves steadily, like honey dripping out of a jar. She's sickeningly sweet.

 

_Got me hoping you'll save me right now_

_Your kiss got me hoping you'll save me right now (your love)_

_Looking so crazy in love_

_Got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love_

 

The dance is coming to a close, and it's clear that she deserves her skin. Luckily, Jughead has one just for her.

 

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no_

 

He's been keeping it in a pretty little pink box the entire night, a Serpent jacket specifically tailored to fit the curves of her body. And on the sleeve, Jughead's golden crown rests as a symbol of himself.

 

It's meant to be something that she can carry with her, to remind her of him. She displays it proudly, the symbol of a Serpent Prince. And now, the symbol of a Serpent Princess.

 

"His and hers matching leather jackets? What's next? Matching motorcycles?" Sweet Pea scoffs, while everyone was enjoying Veronica's show, he was busy barfing his guts out in the back. The image of his own cousin doing the Serpent dance burned into his brain forever.

 

"Ha, Ha." Jughead wasn't _that_ cheesy. "No, I didn't get us matching motorcycles... I did, however, get her something else."

 

Veronica feels so much closer to her ancestors and even her husband, now. "Jughead, you really didn't have too. I'm just happy that I'm a Serpent now. I'm like you."

 

He laughs at her sentiments. He isn't thinking when he says, "You're really cute, ya know?"

 

"Am I?" She teases. He's embarrassed now.

 

"No." Embarrassed _and_ moody.

 

"UGHH, _just get on with it already."_ Sweet Pea has had enough of there sickly sweet banter.

 

"Fine." Another box is pulled out from beneath the table he occupied. "I got you this."

 

She sets it down carefully, opening it to reveal- "Oh..."

 

She sighs and Jughead wonders if it was the wrong gift.

 

"Do you not like it? I can return it. We can get something else-" _Stupid. Stupid Jughead._ He reaches for the box, fully willing to exchange it for a different gift on another date.

 

"Stop that." Veronica swats his hand away from her precious gift and takes it out of the box.

 

It's a shiny white helmet with the same crown she seemed to be seeing a lot of lately, etched into it in a matte black color.

 

"Its- it's..." He's fully prepared for her to say something awful. To say he should return it, get his money back. "It's beautiful."

 

"Huh?" He thinks he heard her wrong.

 

"I love it." She throws herself into his arms and he's caught extremely off-guard.

 

She's kissing him within seconds and he barely has enough time to wrap his arms around her before she's kissing him deeper than before. He didn't notice before but, she tastes surprisingly like chocolate or maybe cinnamon and rum.

 

Whatever it is, it pulls him under and he faintly recognizes the sensation gathering below his waist. _Damn_.

 

He feels a bit like the Icarus.  He feels like he's flying too close to the sun, but still... he's flying.

 

He feels like he might burn up with the heat of her kiss. He feels like he really wouldn't care if he does.

 

_Sear my lips closed with yours. Burn me with your kiss. Set me aflame to set me free. Please, I want you to..._

________

 

     He wakes up in a strange place. He wakes up to a room he doesn't recognize and a weight he's never felt before. He looks over and there she is. In all her glory, Veronica Jones, is snoring lightly.

 

Her hair is splayed wildly about her, her limbs are entangled in his, and her lips are deliciously swollen.

 

 _What happened?_ He, in his tired brain, can't find any explanation as to why he's in her bed except-

 

Memories of soft caresses fill his mind. His own lips roamed her body. Her skin was _soft. Inviting. Forgiving._ He remembers the swell of love and the release of passion.

 

He examines her face as she sleeps. He can't help but smile at her. Sleep makes her face rounder, more relaxed. Her dark brow isn't as arched, her nose is more delicate and her bow shaped lips are parted.

 

She looks like an angel. He hopes she's dreaming good dreams. He leans into the two inches between them and kisses her deftly on the forehead. 

 

"Goodmorning." He whispers before he drifts slowly back into the void.

________

 

     Jason Blossom has always known just what to say to his sister to make her feel better. Right now, he hasn't a clue.

 

She doesn't sob, or cry, or even speak. It scares him to think that such an emotional person like Cheryl could ever be this expressionless. The only way he knows how she's feeling right now is because of their bond as twins.

 

He felt her anguish in the past week. He feels it now like he feels her giving up, he feels her slipping.

 

"Cheryl?" His voice is a comfort to her and suddenly, Cheryl is viewing her life from a new narrative.

 

"Have you ever wondered, brother... what it would be like to just disappear? To let go of everything... To be free." Cheryl remembers Polly's voice when she used to ask her the same thing, it was full of life.

 

Cheryl's head rests on his lap. It's a beautiful Sunday morning at Sweetwater River and the sun is just starting to rise.

 

He brought her here because he knows how much she likes the sunset. He also knows how much she needed this.

 

Betty will be here later, Kevin will likely come, too. Maybe even Jughead and Ronnie. But for now, it's just the Blossom siblings.

 

They've needed this.

 

His answer doesn't come immediately, he wants to think it over before saying something he doesn't mean.

 

 _He's thoughtful like that_ , she thinks.

 

"Yes, Cheryl. I think about that all the time. What would it be like to just exist? Just to live and breathe without any of the drama. Without heartache and without pain." A lump grows in his throat. "Sometimes, I wonder what heaven feels like."

 

Her head shakes 'no' in his lap. "I used to wonder what heaven felt like, but I know what it feels like, Jason... It feels like Polly."

 

His heart breaks for his sister. If she wasn't strong enough to cry, he would do it for her. He would bear the weight on her shoulders. He could do it for her.

 

"I- I'm s-sorry, Cheryl." He sobs, choked by the tears.

 

"I know, Jason. I know."

 

She wipes his tears gently. The tears her brother sheds for her strengthens her resolve and she makes a vow.

 

"I'm going to find whoever did this to Polly. And I'm going to drag them to hell."

 

He doesn't doubt her for a second.

________

 

The gang is gathered at Sweetwater by the end of the day. Kevin, Cheryl, Jason, Betty, Veronica and Jughead. Everyone knows which one of them is missing, even Veronica, who has never even met Polly. They're talking about something silly around the campfire Jason and Jughead built earlier in the day.

 

Jason plays the guitar softly. And Cheryl looks around at the small smiles on everyone's faces and decides she can't take it anymore.

 

"What the fuck are we doing?" Jason's melody stops abruptly at Cheryl's outburst.

 

"We're singing fucking Kumbaya around a campfire while whoever murdered Polly is out there right now! Walking freely. Are we just gonna pretend Polly never existed?!" She waves her hands into the woods. Jason understands where she's coming from.

 

"That's not our intention, Cheryl." Kevin knows his best friend. That's not what she's trying to say. "We would never forget her. We just thought you might need this."

 

"But we aren't helping her, either." Betty's been thinking about it, too. "We can't let the person who did this get away with it."

 

"What are you suggesting, Cheryl?" Jughead imagines them all trying to solve Polly's case but that's absolutely nuts.

 

"I suggest _we_ solve her murder. The Police department is filled with imbeciles, no offense Kevin." She comments, thinking back to the day before when Sheriff Keller let a stranger sit in on their private interrogation.

 

"None taken." Kevin knows damn well his father couldn't fucking find a bull in a china shop. Sometimes he wonders how he became sheriff in the first place.

 

"I can't do this on my own, though." She looks hopeful. If she wanted to do this, she'd need all the help she could get.

 

"So, what, you want us to buy a green van and roll around town calling ourselves the Mystery Gang?" Sarcasm slips out of his mouth unwittingly and Veronica hits Jughead over the back of his head.

 

"Stop that." She scolds and he pouts, rubbing his head through his beanie. She feels bad and places her hands on either side of his face to kiss his crown.

 

"Sardonic humor is my way of relating to the world." He humors her.

 

"Gross." Cheryl feels herself losing their attention. "ANYWAYS, Jughead, no, I don't want us to become _Mystery, inc_... I just want to get to the bottom of this... for Polly."

 

"I'm in." Of course Betty was, it's her sister. And if anyone was going to solve this case, she wanted it to be them.

 

"Then we all are." Jason says. No way in hell was he going to let the two most important women in his life, risk themselves to arrest a murderer alone.

 

"Of course we are. I didn't know Polly, but she must've been pretty amazing to have friends like you guys." Veronica is overcome with the sense of belonging and if her friends want to do this, she would put all of her heart into it. Such is the Lodge Family motto.

 

"She's in, I'm in." Jughead scowls slightly. He doesn't like getting involved with the law but he'd follow Veronica wherever she went.

 

"Wow, can I just say that this is _such_ a powerful moment? Look at us, we're sitting around a campfire at dusk, watching the sun go down and promising to solve a crime together? This is fucking amazing." Kevin's statement makes them all laugh into the warm summer night.

 

Cheryl begins to feel the stirring of content in her heart. "Thank you."

________

 

_UNTITLED NOVEL- JUGHEADJONES_

_Every fairy tale comes with the same warning: Good children should never go into the woods alone. Stray from the path and who knows what you'll encounter._

_A hungry wolf. A handsome devil. Or maybe something worse._

_Those kids in the fairy tales who go into the woods they don't come back the same.They're always changed in some fundamental way._

_Sometimes for the better. More often for the worse. That's the common misconception about fairy tales._

_They very rarely have a happy ending._

_Someone was watching them, that night, and they didn't know it yet, but darkness hath come to their small town. And the 'town with pep!' should soon become the town that dreaded sundown._


	9. Chapter 9: The Skin of a Serpent

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

 

"Ugh." Jughead wakes up despising the alarm clock that blares from his bedside night-stand.

 

'4:30' is displayed in bright neon-blue letters that glare in his tired eyes and dimly lights the darkness of his room.

__

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

He hits the snooze button and cuddles back into his warm bed only to be awoken by a force slightly more alarming than that of his clock.

 

His door opens forcefully and his in-laws, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, waltz in and draw the curtains, illuminating his room in light from the rising sun.

 

"Mijo! It's time to wake up! We have a big day ahead of us!" Hermione Lodge, cheerful as ever, sits at his bedside and gently shakes him awake. And despite not being a morning person, he smiles lightly and opens his groggy eyes.

 

He remembers a time where his mother lived in the same household as him. He remembers when she used to wake him for school, just like this. It's been a long time since he's had a mother figure and if it wasn't his own mother, he was glad it was Hermione.

 

"You guys are back al-already?" Jughead sits up, stretching his arms above his head. He's embarrassed at the way his voice cracks from hours of not using it.

 

"What can we say? We missed our niños! Especially since you two don't even bother to call us!" She frowns at him. "We've been gone nearly a week and not a single word!"

 

"Sorry." He's grinning like a madman now. _When was the last time someone had gotten so worked up over caring for me?_ Secretly, he thinks of Veronica, and how her stern Mother-hen act must've came from Tia Hermione herself.

 

"And here you are, smiling like the devil." She makes a face that he's only ever seen Veronica make when she's teasing him.

 

"I'm just glad you guys are back. Is my dad here?" He looks around for any sign of his old man.

 

"Of course, we couldn't miss such a momentous occasion, Mijo! Today marks the first day of the SoDale projects construction on Southside High!" Hiram Lodge hands him a cup full of orange juice and slaps Jughead so harshly on the back that he nearly spills it all over himself.

 

He doesn't seem to notice his excessive use of strength. "Your old man is in the Kitchen, making breakfast with Ronnie. We should join them, get dressed and come out, we'll wait for you."

 

Hermione and Hiram exit as swiftly as they entered, leaving Jughead sitting alone on his bed.

 

"Yes, Tio."

________

 

When he is properly dressed, Jughead enters the dining room to find his father, in-laws and wife all sitting together, all wearing various outfits with the same leather jacket incorporated into them, all conversing quietly.

 

"He gave me one with his crown on it. I haven't worn it yet, but I figure now is as good a time as any." Veronica proudly shows them the crown patch on her sleeve.

 

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been there, Mija. The trials are important in a young Serpents life, but we were so busy in New York..." Hiram's hand rests on his daughters.

 

"That's okay, Daddy... Jughead helped a lot." She smiles and picks up her cup of coffee. Her dark purple lips leave a stain on the side of her cup.

 

"Speak of the devil." FP sees Jughead step into the doorway and stands to hug him.

 

"Hey, Kid." He embraces his father. Jughead has begun to miss the smell of tobacco and peppermint altoids that his father always carries with him.

 

"Hey, dad."

 

His father ushers him into the seat next to Veronica and proceeds to sit himself next to Hermione.

 

"I hope you guys are prepared for today. Now, I'm positive the Northsiders will give you backlash for the Serpents attending their school but, it won't be as bad as you think. Trust me, they're all bark and no bite." FP is hardly worried about their physical safety, but mental safety is another case entirely.

 

"That's right." Hermione agrees. "FP has already had a talk with the Serpents, and you, Jughead, must keep them in line. Your father can't be there for you in school. So it's imperative that you take charge, be a _leader_. You are going to be the next Serpent King. Never fail to _act_ like it."

 

It's the same invisible weight Jughead feels on his shoulders that he felt on the day of his wedding. The weight of the Serpents, not only on his shoulders, but on his heart, too. He tells himself it's not a burden, but an honor.

 

"Yes, Tia Hermione." He looks at her smiling face and decides in that moment to not let his new mother (in-law) down.

 

"That means you too, Mija. No more _punching_ kids like Reggie Mantle." Hiram says pointedly. "Mayor McCoy is already upset over you punching her daughter's boyfriend. She's been spreading lies that we're all animals. A blemish on Riverdale's reputation."

 

Both Veronica and Jughead hang their heads, not willing to relive the embarrassment of their parents yelling at them.

 

FP knows the glossy look his sons eyes is tension, so he tries to reassure him that everything will be okay. " _But_ , That doesn't mean that you two should worry too much about the Mayor. We know how to deal with her. In fact, we have a meeting with her today. You two just have fun at school, Okay?"

 

"Okay." They agree.

________

 

"Veronica, do you have a minute?" Hermione stops her daughter before she's about to step out. "Just checking in. See how you're feeling about things."

 

Jughead doesn't stop for her, knowing that the family needed a moment to be alone together again. Instead, he makes his way over to the car, where Smithers waits for them.

 

"Ah. Checking in to make sure I'm still on board with the quote unquote plan? Don't worry, I am."Veronica has had a lot of time to think about it. _If this was what was best for the Serpents, so be it._

 

"You're gonna be at ground-zero, Veronica." Her father says. "In the eye of the potential _hurricane_."

 

"That's what you said when I wanted to go shopping in SoHo during Occupy Wall Street, and I was fine." The look of disbelief deepens on their faces. "Dad. Mom. Trust me. I'll keep my classmates from revolting when the news breaks. And I'm even going to have a little chat with Josie McCoy today."

 

"And they'll be none the wiser." Hiram finishes for her.

________

 

     They take the Rolls-Royce today, at the request of FP Jones, who says he needs to borrow the truck for Serpent business, and Hiram Lodge, who says that arriving at school on a motorcycle the first day the Serpents attend Riverdale High, might not be a good idea.

 

They stop for a couple dozen bagels, however. After the pestering of Veronica, who argued that the right start to everyday is having a good breakfast.

 

"They should eat first, Jughead. Some people get agitated when they don't eat and a nasty attitude is the last thing we need happening today." She picks out an assorted selection of fresh bagels and various shmears to go with them.

 

"Fine." He picks one out for himself. It's strawberry flavored, like he likes his milkshakes.

 

When Smithers pulls into the parking lot, the teen Serpents are already waiting for them.

 

"Fuck." He'd rushed them out of the apartment early so they didn't have to see Jughead getting dropped off by Smithers. The bagel stop must've been what caught them.

 

The Serpent gang was going to roast the hell out of him for having a worker drive him places. Or, at least Toni was. The rest of the Serpents seemed to be enjoying scaring the life out of the nearby Northsiders.

 

"Decided to let the butler drop you off today, eh, pretty boy?" Toni teases as Jughead steps out of the car and helps Veronica step out.

 

A whistle comes from Fangs and Jughead scowls. His wife wears the Serpent colors beautifully. She's a blend of dark colors, deep red lips, high heels and a string of pearls running across her neck in a choker-like fashion.

 

"Damn. You're looking good, Ronnie." Toni forgets what she was even saying before, her mouth drops and her smile widens.

 

"Stop that." Jughead glares at her, wrapping a protective arm around Veronica, who smiles. "Anyways, are you guys prepared for today? I don't want any of you to get into any trouble. _Especially_ you, Salem."

 

The crowd parts and the young boy, just tall enough to reach his brother's shoulder, grins sheepishly.

 

"He'll be good, Jug. Fangs will make sure of that, right Fangs?" Sweet Pea claps Fangs on the shoulder and under the scrutiny of Salem, Fangs pales.

 

"Isn't he a little young to be in High School?" Veronica doesn't think her small scrawny cousin of only twelve years old, could possibly handle the stress of High School just yet.

 

"Advanced Placement. I was too smart for the schools on the Southside so they just put me in with the older kids so they didn't have to deal with me." Salem shrugs.

 

"Lucky us." Fangs deadpans.

 

"Just don't go looking for trouble, okay?" Jughead says. Salem nods in response. "That goes for all of you. The serpents are turning a new stone and we need to be the bigger man in a situation like this. They're going to _reject_ us, _ostracize_ us, _demean_ us. But we're going to rise above it all and show that we are, despite what Mayor McCoy and the Register says about us, we are civil people-"

 

"On a less serious note, I brought bagels." Veronica interrupts when he begins to ramble. A kiss is placed on his cheek when he pouts. The serpents cheer and pass around the boxes of bagels to each other.

 

"Hey, I have to go." Veronica checks her watch and realizes that she still has to set up her booth and all the necessary paperwork and items that the Southside kids need to transition into Riverdale smoothly.

 

"Yeah, you should get going. You've  got to go save the school from an impending meltdown." He laughs half-heartedly.

 

"Don't say that. It's going to go great today, Jug." He slumps down over her when she hugs him in a reassuring embrace. "I can feel it."

 

"I'm not so convinced." He presses his cheek to the top of her head, reveling in the fact that he's tall enough to do so. He's still tired from waking up so early and yawns. "Ahhh, but if you think so..."

 

"I _know_ so. Today's going to be a good day. For everyone." She kisses him softly on the lips and then starts to push him off. "Now get off of me, I have some very serious matters to attend to. And the welcoming committee isn't going to get anything done with it's _only_ member trapped in the arms of her husband.”

 

He laughs and let's her go. He knows he'll see her in about twenty minutes or so, but he misses her comforting gaze already.

________

 

 _"Students of Riverdale High, this is your principal speaking. E-mails have been sent to your parents, but effective immediately, Southside High School is shut down."_ Gasps travel down the hall as Principal Weatherbee breaks the news over the PA. _"And its students will be transferred to other schools in the district, - including this one."_

 

Beside Cheryl, Kevin mouths, 'Oh, my God.'

 

"Okay, guys, let's not overreact." Betty sees Cheryl and Kevin's reaction.

 

_"I believe the statement we're releasing will address your concerns and theirs. You should be receiving it shortly. I'm sure you have many questions."_

 

"Like what the hell?!" Cheryl says loudly.

 

_"I believe the statement we're releasing will address your concerns and theirs. You should be receiving it shortly. I'm sure you have many questions."_

 

"Cheryl?" Kevin sees her face turn red.

 

"Hell no!" She's outraged. "My home life is a Dickensian nightmare. I won't have school turn into one, too!"

 

"Will the students of Southside High please refer to Veronica Lo-ahem-Jones for course schedules or locker assignments. Thank you. That is all."

 

The Southside students arrive unanimously, with Jughead leading the pack. A swarm of leather, tattoos and colored hair, part the crowded hallway like Moses and the Red Sea.

 

It sure is a sight to see two distinctive groups of kids clash together in one hallway. Bright smiles turn to frowns, laughter turns to silence, and Riverdale High turns into some kind of crossbreed between the North and South; the first of its kind.

 

_"On behalf of the students and faculty here at Riverdale High, welcome to your new school!" Veronica smiles brightly despite the glares form her fellow Riverdale students. "To ease this transition, I've set up a registration desk where you can get your locker assignments, class schedules, and a list of sports and extracurriculars."_

 

"We encourage each and every one of you to drink deeply from the cup that is fair Riverdale." Adds Jason, who has appeared to help his friend in a time of crisis.

 

"Stand down, Eva Peron!" Cheryl Blossom, fiery red hair and an attitude to match, busts onto the scene to stop whatever monstrosity she thinks is going on here.

 

"There's the school spirit I so fondly remember." Jughead huffs.

 

Veronica doesn't understand where Cheryl is coming from. "Cheryl. No one invited Fascist Barbie to the party."

 

"Wrong, Veronica, no one invited Southside scum to our school." Cheryl turns to face the crowd. "Listen up, Ragamuffins. I will not allow Riverdale High's above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowded with underachievers. So please, do us all a favor, and find some other school to debase with your hardscrabble ways."

 

"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?" Toni growls, eliciting a surge of excitement from her crowd.

 

"Happily, Queen of the Buskers." Cheryl bites back.

 

Jason tries to delegate for Riverdale because his sister isn't doing too great of a job."Okay, Guys, everyone, can we just put our Northside-Southside differences apart and start over? A new slate? Mmm?"

 

"You don't speak for the Bulldogs, Blossom." Reggie comes up behind him, football team in tow. Josie stands next to him, holding his hand lightly. "And need I remind you, one of these greaser-snakes could've been Polly's murderer."

 

"Exactly!" Josie glares. "You Southsiders are violent animals. My mom thinks so, too. That's why her main goal right now, is to clean up the Southside. Starting with the Serpents."

 

"You and your mother can-" Before Veronica can finish, Reggie interrupts her.

 

"And this one-" He shoves Veronica's shoulder accusingly. "Assaulted me last week in the student lounge."

 

"Reggie, c'mon man. Quit it, man." Archie Andrews once again stands in Jughead's place between Veronica and potential danger. _Even when he's trying to help he's irritating._

 

The Serpents move together at once, ready to step forward and kick Reggie Mantles ass for touching one of their own. Jughead is the only thing stopping them, as he holds his hand to calm the tide.

 

"Happy to finish what she started." Jughead single-handedly comes to her defense, shoving Reggie and even Archie back.

 

"Hey!" Archie protests.

 

"Who the hell do you think you are, Asshole?" Veronica stabs a finger into Reggie's chest.

 

"God, I am so over the toxic masculinity in this hallway right now." Betty pulls both Veronica and Jughead back by their collars.

 

"All right. That's enough pomp and circumstance. Everyone, let's get to class. _Now_." Principal Weatherbee breaks the tension, forcing people into their nearby classrooms.

 

Reggie spits at their feet as he heads further into the schools for his morning class.

 

"This ain't over, Jones."

________

 

     "I don't think we've properly met. Veronica Jones. Of the Park Avenue Lodges." A slim caramel hand is extended in her direction.

 

"I'm Josie McCoy. Formerly of the Pussycats, now just Josie. " She doesn't reach to shake Veronica's hand, electing to fold her arms instead. Josie is on edge from her girls quitting on her just a few days ago, still angry about the incident.

 

Also, the fact that she's sitting in close quarters with the girl who punched her boyfriend may not be helping either.

 

Veronica takes her hand back. "I'm sorry to hear that. But, I'm not going to waste any of your precious time here today, Ms. McCoy, instead I'd rather get right to the point.I'd like to bring to your attention the fact that you and your mother have been spreading rumors about me and my family."

 

Josie's lip twitches, unsuspecting of the traps Veronica has set. "And what about it?"

 

"Stop the slander." Veronica says simply, sipping an iced coffee. The two sit together in the music room at lunch where she expected to find her. An icy air settles between them.

 

Josie scoffs at her. "Listen, I know you're under the illusion that you're royalty just because you're a Lodge and 'in-charge' with your little ragtag group of greasy snakes, but I'm going to tell you this once and be done with it. _You aren't the queen here, Lodge."_

 

"Ooo." Veronica winces. "That's gonna hurt you."

 

"Oh, am I supposed to be scared? Your big, bad Serpents going to kill me? Strangle me? Dump me in a river?" Josie's eyes challenge her to threaten the Mayor's daughter.

 

"The Serpents aren't going to kill you, Josie." Veronica laughs chillingly. "No, they don't do things like that anymore. It's part of the new image we are building, but the lies that you and your mother are spreading... aren't helping us."

 

"They aren't lies, though. The Southsiders are trashy. The Serpents are animals. And having any of you here is a huge mistake." Josie states as if she's stating the time or what the weather is like today. Her eyes meet Veronica's with the same, sharp look of blatant disrespect.

 

"Josie... I'm just going to wrap this up because we could compare dicks all day but the thing is... I'd be careful if I were you, if you keep talking about us... someone might get hurt." Veronica would stomp Josie's face into the ground faster than any other Serpent could.

 

After all, she lives on the same side of town as her. She's all about easy access.

 

"Is that a threat?" The way Josie's arms cross gives Veronica the confidence she needed that this interaction went the way she had hoped. Josie McCoy is ruffled now, on edge.

 

"Consider it a warning." Veronica gets up and heads toward the door, not bothering to look over her shoulder. "Have a nice day, Josie McCoy."

 

Josie sits in the quiet dark for a moment, contemplating what she was going to do next.

________

 

     Veronica catches up with Jughead and the Serpents at lunch. Salem looks at her with a sly smile that she doesn't understand, but ignores anyway. He's probably up to something that Reggie Mantle will find angrily, later this week.

 

"I'm starting to miss Southside High." Jughead says.

 

"I'm not. This place has edible food. It's like heaven, we just have to deal with a few rich assholes but, it's worth it." Sweet Pea

 

"You guys! Yes, you, come with me.

Now!" Principal Weatherbee comes up to the Serpents new lunch spot out in Jughead's usual hangout at the back of the Cafeteria.

 

He leads the group to the entrance hall where graffiti marks the floor. "Which of you defaced our school seal with this graffiti?"

 

A large, green Serpent looks up at them with beady red eyes.

 

Reggie's face is smug. "This is what they do, Principal Weatherbee. They tag their turf."

 

"My God, Reggie, could you be anymore transparent?" Veronica glares.

 

"Effective immediately, no gang behavior of any kind will be tolerated at my school.

As of this moment, no more Serpent jackets."

 

"What?!"

 

"Are you kidding me?"

 

"That's not right!"

 

"No more Serpent jackets! All tattoos are gonna be covered. Possession of any gang paraphernalia whatsoever will lead to immediate suspension. Are we clear? That's all." The Principal swivels on his heel and is storming down the hall in seconds, bald head shining in the fluorescent lights.

 

Reggie Mantle grins smugly in their faces and Veronica scoffs and turns to storm down the hall in the other direction. Her husband and the other Serpents follow in suit.

 

"We can't, guys." Veronica says when they've reached the entrance of an abandoned stairwell. "We can't wear our jackets anymore. I don't want to give up this easily, but the Serpent King told me to keep you guys out of trouble. And that's what I'm going to do."

 

"Ronnie-" Jughead starts.

 

"Don't 'Ronnie' me, Forsythe Pendleton Jones, III." She gives him a stern look. Then she says something that makes him not think twice about defying her wishes. "You _know_ we can't do anything other than conform to his rules."

 

"Conform, Veronica? That's it? You want us to conform because the principal tells us to? You want us to shed our skins? To give up who we are, everything we've worked for?" He's never disagreed with her before this, but this matter is something that he just can't let go.

 

"Jughead... it's alright." Fangs says. It's getting awkward, watching the two lovebirds in their first fight.

 

"No, it isn't alright, Fangs." Jughead turns to look at the rest of the Serpents. His voice is fierce and full of passion. "We are in enemy territory. We can't _abandon_ our skins just to blend in with the Northsiders. When they come to the Southside, they _spit_ on us, they _beat_ on us, they tear _families_ apart and use the law as an excuse to throw us in jails and then, they have the _nerve_ to call us animals?"

 

"What am I supposed to do, Jughead? Am I supposed to let the Mayor come to the school and arrest you, Jughead? Am I supposed to let these good kids throw their lives away just because you want to make a statement?" Veronica's voice quivers with passionate anger and a lump swells in her throat. She's so mad that tears start to well in her eyes. _How could he want to endanger the Serpents like this?_

 

" _Let_?" Jughead says because he's mad, too, but doesn't have any other words left to say. "Who are you to let us do anything? You've been a Serpent for what? A few days now? You and your family come back after 18 years of abandoning the Serpents and suddenly the Lodges are in control?"

 

He regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth, but he's pissed and drunk on the feeling of being in control for once.

 

"Jughead!" Toni can see the hurt in Veronica's glassy charcoal eyes. She can also see that she cares deeply about both her husband and the Serpents. "Stop, before you go too far! She's just as much of a Serpent as any of us!"

 

He keeps going.

 

"Is she, though? At the first sign of opposition, she runs with her tail between her legs... That doesn't sound like a Serpent to me." He delivers the final blow and he can tell he's gone too far, now, by the look on her beautiful face.

 

"Oh my god, Veronica. I'm sorry-" He shouldn't have said that. _Stupid, stupid Jughead._

 

She's crushed. And like any animal, backed into a corner, and fighting for survival, she snaps.

 

She slaps him clean across the face, with such force that his head jerks to the side and a bright red hand mark immediately appears in place of her hand. _"Go to hell."_

 

Hurricane Veronica makes her way out of the side entrance to the school and into the parking lot where Jughead, now realizing exactly  what he's done, dares not to follow her.

 

_Fuck._

________

 

     "I can't believe you guys don't even see it. Weatherbee is profiling us. Tellin' us what to wear. What's next? Brain implants controlling what we think?" Jughead says in the arcade  of the Whyte Wyrm, hours after Weatherbee's harsh sentencing.

 

He's still riding out what anger he has left from his big spat with Veronica earlier. He'll probably go home late tonight after a few drinks. He tries his best to take his mind off of her.

 

"Are we not going to talk about earlier Jughead? You said some pretty fucked up things to her. And now you sound like a crazy conspiracy nut." Toni waves him off. "A school closed down."

 

"A crappy school." Salem adds. He's stationed at a game labeled, Galaga, moving his body back and forth with the controls of the game. "And yes, I agree with Toni. Veronica didn't deserve that. Especially after she handled McCoy for the Serpents."

 

"Yeah, and now we're at a better one. With a computer lab and text books-" Toni really need Jughead to cool it.

 

"Wait, handled McCoy? What does that mean?" His question goes unheard.

 

"And toilets that flush." Sweet Pea interjects from where he lounges on a beat-up couch.

 

"Getting transferred to Riverdale High is the best thing that could have happened." Tonite begs him to see what she does.

 

"Maybe ever." Salem looks up from his game.

 

"So, if I have to take off my jacket, 8:30 to 3:00, Monday through Friday just to go to a functioning school... Hey, I'm down with that."

 

Jughead knows she's right. He just wishes that their time at Riverdale didn't have to be spent hiding their true selves. He wishes he could do better for his Serpents. He resolves to do better.

 

"What did you mean, Salem? When you said McCoy was handled?"

 

"Oh, yeah! McCoy totally got her ass handed to her. It was wicked cool of Veronica."

 

"What happened?"

 

"Well, I was in the air ven-" He remembers that he was never supposed to be in the air ducts at Riverdale and nearly chokes on his own words. "I mean- I was walking down the hall, and in one of the unoccupied classrooms, I overheard Cousin Ronnie talking to that McCoy girl.

 

"She told the mayor's daughter to stop spreading lies about the Serpents, or else.  It was like _The Godfather_ , and cousin Ronnie was making Josie McCoy squirm in her seat. It was totally wicked!" Salem finishes excitedly.

 

"She did that? For the Serpents?" Salem nods gives him an even deeper knot in his stomach.

 

He thinks he might throw up now.

________

 

     Veronica nearly slaps him again the next morning when he walks out of his room in his jacket. He's almost too embarrassed to look at her, even when she starts yelling.

 

"What the hell, Jughead? You're going to get yourself suspended!" Veronica tells him to take it off. She tells him that this isn't the kind of publicity they need right now. She tries desperately (and violently) to get that _damn_ jacket off of him.

 

"Veronica." He gently holds the hands that thrash violently against him in an effort to pull his jacket off. "Veronica, stop. Stop it!"

 

She stops abruptly and looks up at him, seemingly peering into his soul. He hopes she can see the sincerity in his eyes. She's near tears again, even after a night spent crying alone in her room. Her eyes are puffy and she tries to pull away but he stops her.

 

"Veronica... I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said yesterday, I was mad at the world and took it out on you when I shouldn't have..." He's confused at the anger that wells in her eyes.

 

Her eyes are puffy and she tries to pull away but he stops her. She's near tears again and she looks away, even after a night spent crying alone in her room.

 

"But you're still going to wear it, aren't you?" She's successful at pulling away from him this time and uses her free hands to shove him back.

 

"I'm sorry, Veronica. I need to do this. For us. We're going to be the Serpent leaders one day. We need to take the chance and start the revolution. Civil War has been brewing for a long time here in Riverdale, and if we lose our voices now, then the history of the Serpents are gone." He looks directly in her eye to see the tears dry up. "This is the match that light the flame, Ronnie. I'm going to do this, despite what anyone says.

 

Her face hardens and she makes a decision then. She walks briskly into her room and snatches up the leather jacket that rests on the back of a chair.

 

She slips it on over her deep purple dress and throws her hair over her shoulder. When she comes out, Jughead nearly gasps in shock.

 

"This doesn't mean I forgive you, Jughead. But I'll be damned if you have to do this alone." She walks past him and out the door, leaving him smiling after her.

 

"I love her." He whispers to himself.


	10. Chapter Ten: Keeping Up With The Joneses

_UNTITLED NOVEL  - JUGHEAD JONES III_

_Weekdays, from 8:25 a.m. to 3:01 p.m., we adhere to a strict regimen. Everything in our lives controlled. But then something like the murder of Polly Cooper happens, and you realize there is no such thing as control._

_There is only chaos._

_Nevertheless, some of us strive to impose and maintain order in what is, fundamentally, an orderless world. A fact which would very soon be confirmed in ways none of us could have foreseen._  
________

     Veronica mutters small words to herself on the way to school, the day following the Serpent-ban. Both she and her husband sitting next to her, sport the same jacket with a crown on the sleeve. Smithers has the partition rolled up today, per her request, she didn't want him to see one of the Lodges in such a state of abandon.

"Breathe." She mutters, intaking a deep breath and letting it go.

He can sense her tenseness and inches his hand closer to hers. If she wasn't a ball of nerves right now, or maybe if she just had her head on straight, she would've pulled back from him. Maybe, even shoved his hand away in disgust or anger.

He's relieved when she does neither of those, just grasps his hand tightly and doesn't let go. He decides to be more brave. "You can do this, Ronnie."

She looks at him strangely, although his eyes look out the window, so he doesn't see. "I'm not worried about this part. It's like chess, Jug, all that matters is that checkmate ends the game. I'm only concerned about the end game, the eyes watching us, and what this little indiscretion will cost us."

He hadn't thought about that, or even about how her parents would react, but of course, if he did, he wouldn't need Veronica. She's calculated and precise where he's brash and impulsive. It's what makes their dynamic unstoppable.

"Don't be worried. If something happens, I'll take the blame-"

"Like hell you will, I didn't put this jacket on today for you to ' _take the blame_ ', Jughead. Marriage is a _partnership_." She scoffs at the implication that she'd even allow him to do so.

"Veronica-" He wants to reprimand her. To tell her to let him protect her in the way he wants. To tell her to _trust_ him, to _depend_ on him. He'd carry her and never let her feet even _touch_ the ground.

"No." She refuses. She meets his gaze with equal ferocity. "I'm a Serpent, Jughead Jones, III! I earned the right to wear this jacket!"

"Take the jacket off." He says, releasing her hand to reach up and tug the jacket off of her shoulders.

"Oh, now you want me to take the jacket off? _Not a chance_." She mocks him, pulling away from his clumsy fingers. She looks at his sour face. "Oh, how the tables have turned."

"Take the damn jacket off. I'm not letting you get in trouble for me." Jughead tries again for her jacket.

"No. I'm not doing this just for you, Jughead. I'm doing this for my... _our_ family." She says and shoves him off of her. He doesn't need to ask her to know the family she's talking about is the Serpents.

Smithers stops the car and Veronica is out in a blur, tossing her hair over her shoulders and walking towards the entrance of the school.

He sighs and swears to God before he's thanking Smithers from where he stands on the sidewalk and rushing to catch up to her.

"Wait for me." He gives up trying to stop her.

"Hurry up, Juggiekins. We'll miss our grand entrance." She teases.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He let's her pull him into the school.  
________

"Excuse me, _Bonnie and Clyde_! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Cheryl is the first to approach them in a long hallway full of students that watch them in silent disbelief.

Veronica knows that if Jughead and Cheryl were to get into it, they'd be standing here all day so she sends him away. He looks like he has a plan anyways. She'll deal with Cheryl.

"Go." She says when he looks at her with a questioning look. He nods and squeezes her hand one last time before jetting off to go find the other Serpents.

"Cheryl, we should talk." Veronica decides that her friendship (and status as a Blossom) is worth more than anything at this point.

"Jughead and I vowed to help you with Polly's case. Jughead... He knows more about the people in this town than they know about themselves. He's your best shot at finding Polly's murderer. And that offer still stands, but not if you think one of the Serpents did it."

"I'm not counting the Serpents out. If I'm going to solve this, I'm going to have to consider everyone as a suspect." Cheryl refuses to rule out the serpents as suspects, even if her friend endorses them. "She meant the world to me, Veronica. I won't let rest until I solve this.”

"I know, Cheryl. It's probably a nightmare for you, but if you can trust me, I'm going to vouch for the serpents and say that I'm 100% confident that no Serpent would do anything _that_ sickening."

Veronica knows a lot of people from her days of being a New York Socialite, she can tell when someone is not what they seem, like an instinct, and so far every Serpent has passed her instinct screening. "We can do this, Cheryl. For her. What do you say? Truce?"

" _Fine_." Cheryl relents after holding her under a scrutinizing gaze for enough seconds to make her point clear. "But not because I actually trust you or anything. I'm only doing this for Polly."

Veronica grins and scoops an annoyed Cheryl's hand into hers in a firm handshake she used to practice with her father when she was younger. Her father will be proud of what a diplomat she's turned into.  
________

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Jughead says as he walks into the student lounge, where Toni, Sweet Pea, Salem, and Fangs talk quietly.

He strolls up to the vending machine and mocks contemplating what he's going to get, giving Reggie Mantle and his goons a perfect view of the Serpent that is splayed against his back.

"Take it off." Reggie stands to attention, almost disbelieving that Jughead had dared to wear his jacket to school. "Take off that jacket, _Rat Boy_."

Rebellion ignites in Jughead's eyes and he turns to face his tormentor head on.

Jughead sighs slightly, crossing his arms. "Oh, Reggie. I don't think you know what this jacket means. Because you have no sense of _honor_. Or _history_. Or _loyalty_."

"That's it." One of Reggie's fists come flying towards Jughead's face, leaving only a few seconds for Jughead to dodge it.

Immediately, the surrounding Serpents snap into action and defend their friend. Even Toni, who is easily two times smaller than the smallest of Reggie's goons, is kicking Chuck Clayton's ass, although he does seem reluctant to _actually_ engage in a fight with her.

Only Salem, smaller than Toni even on his best days, doesn't find an opponent, instead pulling pieces of his infamous potato gun out from his backpack, whipping it together like lightning and fires on the jocks. He laughs maniacally as one by one, the potatoes find their targets.

"Ahh!" Reggie hisses as one hits him in the side.

North and South meet in an all out brawl with potatoes flying everywhere. The scene is similar to a renaissance painting, if those paintings had a bunch of greasers and jocks in what looks like a mosh pit.

"Oh, my God." Betty Cooper walks in on the scene for her usual afternoon seltzer-water and stops, abruptly turning to walk/jog the other way towards help. "Principal Weatherbee!"  
________

"You all have a week's detention for fighting." The two groups of students sit in a cramped office with Betty in the middle. "But I made myself clear to you both, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Take off those jackets, right now, or you're suspended."

Veronica was pulled into the office after Josie McCoy casually mentions to her Uncle Weatherbee that she had seen a certain little nightingale sporting leather today.

A moments silence passes, wherein Jughead pauses the singular thought in his one-track mind for dramatic suspense as his wife nods her consent to the decision she knows he's going to make. _Of course I'm not going to shed my skin._

"Please Jughead, V just take it-" Betty tries to remedy the situation but his mind is already made up.

"Then I guess I'm suspended." He turns on his heel and stalks out of the office with his head held high. He knows Veronica won't be following him out, she's going to stay and continue to move her pieces across the metaphorical chess board.

She's made for political things like that, Jughead on the other hand, will have to rely on his complete disregard for authority to lead him to his next move.

Luckily for Jughead, as long as he wears his Serpent heart on his sleeve, the lump in his throat and the knot in his stomach are easy to swallow.

”And can anyone explain why there are so many potatoes laying around?!” Principal Weatherbee demands.

Jughead smirks and continues on.  
________

Veronica has a meeting with her parents at their estate alone. She asked if Jughead wanted to sit in on her proposal, but he says he needs to cool off before doing anything related to the Serpents and jets off in the direction of Jason's house.

"Weatherbee told McCoy, who told us that integration is not going well." Hermione Lodge, ever the politician, is always the first to hear anything about anyone.

"Reggie's just being Reggie, but he _has_ made gang-wear a flashpoint."  Veronica knows she's in trouble because her father just sits silently, contemplating his next move.

"The Southsiders need to start looking the part." He says after some thought.

"That's why I'm propose a charitable donation to help out the fashionably misguided." Veronica wants to give the Serpents their own uniforms and tees that is Serpent-exclusive.

She wants to give them a symbol that represents a snake laying low in tall-grass. Her parents agree to her plan immediately and they all share foreboding smiles.  
__________

     The flow of Sweetwater River is lazy today, as it is known to be in the late fall here in good ol' Riverdale. The water runs cold though, and nearly makes Archie Andrews contract hypothermia as he wades into the waist deep water to find what he lost.

"It's really cold in here, I think I might be catching a fever or something." Archie says to his male counterpart, who sits upon the shore, watching him.

It's a male, on the edge of manhood, he's tall and lanky but the faint silhouette of muscle peeks out from beneath his clothes. He laughs but without any real warmth in his voice, a laugh that is nearly mocking but not quite.

"I mean how important is this thing any-"

"Archie." One menacing toned word out of the mans mouth silences Archie's complaints. "You're my brother and I love you dearly, but you're a fucking idiot. I didn't rescue you from eating garbage and sleeping on the streets for you to be such a fucking disappointment."

Icy blue eyes stare out in a piercing gaze from underneath a mop of familiar raven curls. Archie looks at him and sees the conflicting fire in his eyes. He remembers the day he first met his brother.

His brother came in the night like a thief. Archie was digging through the _Chinese Garden Buffet's_ trashcan like he did most days after the dinner buffet. The ginger was 6 years old, starving, scrappy, and cheated by the system.

His brother remembers what it was like before Mr. Andrews took him in. It was a lot like this small child rifling through the garbage. He had seen those brown eyes and in the reflection, saw himself, well dressed, fed, and happy looking.

He couldn't stand it, so the 12 year-old snatched Archie up out of the garbage and right home to Mr. Andrews, who adopted him within the next month.

And from then on he became Archie's personal savior. When Archie got called 'trash' by one of the kids on his junior football league, he beat his big brother up. And when Archie had been dumped by Blair Richardson, his brother egged her car.

And when Mrs. Andrews, the only mother he had ever known, left them to pursue another life, he made sure she'd never live again.

Brother has always been there for him and Archie hates himself for nearly ruining the only thing he ever wanted in his life.

Archie remembers the day he first met his brother, he remembers the fire in his icy eyes, and he remembers why he does the awful things he does.

"I'm sorry, Chic. I'll keep looking."

_________

"How'd you know I was here?" Jughead can see his father's reflection in the glass screen of an outdated arcade version of _Street Fighter_ and sighs to himself as he loses the battle.

He should've gone to Jason's like he was supposed too, but sometimes being friends with Mr. Perfect makes him feel inferior.

"Hog Eye called me." He nods to the man behind a tall bar, wiping up invisible crumbs. "What's up, Hog Eye?"

"FP." The man nods back and returns to work.

"You wanna explain to me why the hell you're not in school?"

"Yes." Jughead's father would understand what it was like, more than anyone, how it feels to be discriminated against for being a Serpent. "Weatherbee has been disrespecting the Serpents. He's been targeting us. He told us to take off our skins."

"You mean your jackets?" FP wastes no time in considering his words before letting out a hearty laugh. "Wear them after school."

"A Serpent never sheds its skin." Jughead turns and looks sternly at his father, clearly disapproving of the way he disregarded Jughead's sentiments.

"I know the laws, boy. What's goin' on, Jug? Really?" FP knows the tired look in Jughead's eyes. He sees those same eyes everyday looking back at him in the mirror, they're the eyes of a leader with the world on their shoulders. The eyes of a person with something to lose.

"Southside High, we had a place. Yeah, it was crappy, but it was ours. We were a family. We had a home. I had a home." He doesn't lift his eyes from where they stood stuck to the ground, ashamed at what he's about to admit.

"And sometimes I feel awful for thinking it... but if Veronica hadn't moved here... if she hadn't been my fiancé since before I was born...  I'd still have that home, you know?" Jughead rubs the back of his neck as he spills his guts.

"I'm sorry, son. The whole marriage thing was a lot and I didn't consider how you felt about it. But, there are things we must do. Going to Riverdale High, marrying Veronica, that's what you gotta do. Being _Serpent Prince_ is what you gotta do." FP insists. "So lay low for a while, but you never stop being a Serpent."

He thinks about Veronica. He thinks about, despite his angry words a few days ago, she's even more of a Serpent than he is. She makes moves in the background, lays low when need be, and bites at precisely the right moments.

He realizes just how much he loves her.

He thanks his dad and Hog Eye, too, before racing back to his apartment.  
________

"Jughead?" Veronica arrives home to the aroma of something she can only describe as delicious smelling wafting throughout their apartment.

"In here, Ronnie!" She follows his voice to the kitchen where her 16 year old husband is tending to something over the stove. "I'm making us dinner. It's the first."

She sets her coat and purse down, leaning casually against the doorpost and watching him work.

"I can see that." She snickers at the 'kiss-the-chef' apron that hung around his neck but hadn't bothered to tie around his waist. "The first?"

"The first dinner we have alone, cooked in our very own apartment, as husband and wife." Jughead smiles down at the pot he stirs. She crosses theo tiles to stand behind him and ties his apron.

"That's... amazing, Juggiekins. Really, really amazing. Am I allowed to know the occasion?" Veronica wraps her arms around him and presses her cheek against his back. She can hear his heart beating fast and his lungs breathing deep.

"Occasion?" Jughead stops stirring and turns around to encase her in his arms. "Does there have to be an occasion?"

"No. But, this is awfully nice of you." She smiles up at him and he runs his thumb across the bottom of her plush lips.

"Did you read my apron?" Jughead smirks.

"Is that why you're cooking?!" She laughs.

"No, no, don't be silly," He suddenly takes on a flirtatious smile. "Kisses are just a perk."

"Well, in that case..." She pulls him down by the collar of his shirt and plants a small kiss at the corners of the lips, stopping to rub her nose lightly against his.

He's caught up in the beautiful moment. Her raven hair is unusually messy, her dark eyes are lined with tiny bits of charcoal and her lips... will no doubt be swollen with the pressure of his in the morning.

"I love you." He blurts out and immediately regrets it when she looks dumbfounded.

"What?" She whispers, still gazing at him disbelievingly.

"I-I..." Jughead's stomach drops and she pulls away from him to grasp his face with a soft hand.

"What did you say?" Her breath catches in her throat.

"I-I love you." He looks away as his face crinkles in response to the rejection he's sure to face. She doesn't say anything, only releases him and steps back.

A second seems like an hour and Jughead begins to hear soft, sweet sobs from his darling wife. He faces her to see tears streaming down her eyes and running her makeup down her face. It only makes her more beautiful.

"A-are you sure?" She asks. "You really love me? This isn't some kind of joke is it?"

He knows now that she's just as scared of rejection and abandonment as he is. His heart melts at the sight of her quivering lips and teary sloe eyes.

"I love you, Veronica Valentine Jones."

________

Jughead is missing when she wakes up, which slightly dampens her chipper mood, but she smells the aroma of fresh coffee, which significantly brings her spirits right back up. She rolls out of Jughead's bed and slips into an abandoned shirt and underwear that lay among other articles of clothing on the floor.

Jughead sits in the breakfast nook reading and wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, and drinking out of a white mug with gold trimming to match the rest of their apartment. A similar coffee cup sits next to it and Veronica smiles to herself.

"Good morning." She stretches her arms up towards the ceiling and yawns.

"Good morning." He likes the sight of her in his loose t-shirt and he likes it even more when she stretches and it lifts up to reveal the body he spent so much time roaming the night before.

"You're in a good mood." She teases his bright expression when she slides into the booth next to him.

"And you're not?" He strokes strands of her hair behind her ear as she continues to sip her coffee.

"No." She laughs into her coffee cup. "I'm in a great mood."

"We should do that more often, then, to keep the good vibes." He runs his hand down to her neck to caress the bites in various spots all over her neck. He smiles knowing he has twin spots all over his neck too.

"I like good vibes." She decides. "It's a turtle neck kind-of-day, I think."

He shakes his head. "Nah, I want the whole world to know I belong to Veronica Jones.... my very loving wife."

She shakes her head and then bursts out with small fits of giggles and he can't help but kiss those laughing lips.

"You're such a cheeseball." She says.  
________

"Welcome to the inaugural meeting of the Swords and Serpents Club." Veronica stands at the front of another abandoned classroom after school, the day Jughead comes back. She's pulled some strings and read more than a dozen articles on gaming but the safety of the serpents was worth it.

"Which is what, exactly?"

"Like I told Jughead to lure him back to dear ol' Riverdale High, we are a gaming group." She puts her hand on Jughead's shoulder, a mirror image of her parents. "Sanctioned by Mr. Weatherbee, himself."

"Where like-minded students can meet and concoct world-building, role-playing scenarios, inhabiting fantastical heroes and dispatching mythological creatures." He quotes his wife's words and scoffs. "No, but really? It's a club, for us."

"A safe haven where we can be Serpents, during school hours and under everyone's noses." Veronica spent long hours throughout a long night.

"We're not shedding our skins." He smiles slyly like the rest of his brothers and sisters. "We're lying low, in the tall grass."  
________

     "Anything new you wanna tell me before I leave?" Chic Andrews' master plan depends heavily on any information his adoptive brother can spare.

Normally, he wouldn't have trusted his brother with anything this important but now he's in a close range to his targets and the opportunity was too good to pass up.

Archie has been following their crew around for a while now, watching in the woods, eating in the back corner of Pop's diner, and listening to them in school. He's learned a lot about them in the past weeks.

"They're already married, Chic. It happened a week before they found your sister's body."

"Ah, that puts a bump in our road, but we'll work around this little _marriage_ thing. I had forgotten about dearest Pollyanna. It's a real shame what I had to do to her, she was such a nice girl." He had become extremely lucky when she decided to fake her death.

He smiles at the memory of the way she struggled underneath his weight, the way she begged for her life, the way her neck felt beneath his hands.

"What else?"

"They're looking for you. They want to solve her murder...They're looking for clues."

Chic smiles deviously.

"Then why don't we leave them some?"  
__________  
   
      "Mr. and Mrs. Jones?" Andre stops the smiling couple on their way up to their apartment. "You have a package."

"Who is it from?" Veronica asks.

"Doesn't say, ma'am."

"Thank you, Andre." Jughead takes the thick envelope and hands it to Veronica as soon as they cross the threshold.

She opens it gingerly, and a dozen photographs scatter onto the ground. She picks one up and screams.

A blonde girl that looks shockingly similar to Betty Cooper is seen with a hand around her neck as she looks into the camera with wild fright.

Veronica feels herself passing out as once again, Jughead's arms are around her. She can hear him yelling her name before everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss me?


	11. Chapter Eleven: Dead End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor, Poor little Midge. Don’t you know bad things happen to kids who play in the woods at night?

_I've_ _been_ _watching_ _you_.

 

A slip of paper is attached to the envelope in chicken scratch writing that is barely legible. Veronica sits on her davenport sofa, clutching the note in one hand and Jughead's thigh in the other.

 

"I don't understand, Jughead, why would someone send these to us?" She had been quite spooked earlier at the sight of such horrendous moments caught on camera.

 

"I don't know Veronica." He rubs her arm in consolation, staring out into the dark apartment, watchful of anything that could harm her. "I've watched plenty of movies, though, enough to know that whoever sent these is wants something from us."

 

"This cant be happening, Jughead- with all the Serpent stuff going on and SoDale... and with the fundraiser, too, I just-"

 

" _Fundraiser_?" He stops her. "What fundraiser?"

 

 _Didn't_ _I_ _tell_ him _about_ _this_?

 

"The fundraiser... You know? The one that is going to fund Serpent exclusive wear and gear?"

 

"When did you come up with this?" He knows she's been really busy lately with meetings and researching matters but he didn't know she was busy planning an entire fundraiser.

 

"I had a meeting with my parents. It's a fashion show featuring our very own Serpents, you're included in that, by the way, and a select group of teens that happen to be extremely influential. People from all over the tri-state area will be there."

 

Veronica has only been planning this for a few days now but her designs so far are great.

 

"Are you designing it?" He looks at her in amazement.

 

"Yes. Only the best for my Serpents." She smirks proudly as she notices the look in his eyes. "You shouldn't look so amazed, Jughead."

 

He laughs. "I can't help it. Everything you do amazes me."

 

She laughs, too and leans in for a small peck on the lips, but not forgetting the pressing matter at hand. "We should call Betty and Jason. Tell them to meet us at Pop's... We should discuss this."

 

She tosses the pack back onto the table and goes to retrieve her coat.

________

 

Betty Cooper, in all her life, has never felt such dread as she does in this moment. She had gotten a hysterical call at nearly midnight from both Veronica and Jason about a mysterious package that matched the description of the one sitting in front of her.

 

They had agreed to meet at Pop's to discuss the contents of each of them. In hers, she found a file. A boy named Charles Smith grimaced up at her from the photo attached, although, it must be old considering he looks to about 9 years old and according to his birthdate, he should be 22 by now.

 

He has charcoal curls and bright blue eyes, and although his father's name is carefully etched out, his mother's name is Alice Cooper.

 

Betty feels like she needs to throw up.

________

 

      The Riverdale gang meets at precisely midnight that night. They leave the safety of their homes and venture into the dark night to find their way to Pop's. Jason and Cheryl offer to drive and pick Betty up but she declines. She needs to clear her head.

 

She walks alone in the distance from the Cooper estate to Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. And on the way there, she finds a ginger boy, lurking in the shadows.

 

"Archie?" She says when the figure stands and moves into the light of a street lamp.

 

"Betty?" He's sweaty, disheveled, and there is a red blotch that contrasts against his pale forehead.

 

"Are you alright? You're bleeding." She states, taking a step forward to offer him a white kerchief that she pulls out of her back pocket. He accepts it graciously and holds the fabric to his head. "What are you doing out so late at night?"

 

The cloth becomes increasingly soaked with the blood dripping from his wound. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment before he becomes mildly defensive. "I could ask you the same thing, Betty."

 

"I'm on my way to Pop's." She answers truthfully despite his deflection, and since it would be rude not to, she invites him along. "Would you like to come? You look like you could eat."

 

"Me?" Archie doesn't see the opportunity he has quite yet and is instead flattered that she would ask. "Sure."

 

"Let's go."

 

They walk in silence for the stretch of road remaining, until Betty becomes too curious to not say anything.

 

"Why are you bleeding, Archie?"

 

He keeps walking although she stops.

 

"I was... jogging and I ran into a branch. It scratched me up pretty bad." He says as if he had only just decided that this was his story.

 

"I have a bandage. Jason always finds a way to hurt himself, so I just ended up carrying them with me." She slips one into his palm and inspects his face. There didn't seem to be a cut anywhere, but he unwraps it and applies it to himself anyways.

 

"Thanks."

 

The strangeness of the situation catches up with her and she suddenly fears for herself. Alone, in the dark, with a stranger.

 

She can't shake the uneasy feeling she feels settle deep in her stomach.

 

 _What_ _was_ _I_ _thinking_?

__________

 

     Jason Blossom waits in the parking lot for Betty, refusing to enter without her. He tells Cheryl to order him and Betty something and she hurriedly agrees, eager to start the night off already.

 

She holds a stack of pictures tight against her chest as she rushes in to meet Jughead and Veronica, who arrived before anyone else.

 

Betty does not come alone, walking steadily ahead of another red headed boy. He knows Betty well enough to know that she felt bad for this new kid and probably dragged him along for fear of seeming rude.

 

If there was anything he could count on, it was that Betty would always be considerate.

 

"What took you so long?" Jason smiles and embraces her as she hugs him tightly.

 

Now that she's closer, he can see the slight quirk of her eyebrow and the tight smile she wears. She's weary, Jason realizes.

 

"It's been a long, long day." She sighs into his shoulder and takes in his familiar scent.

 

"You know, you seem to have a thing for redheads." He jokes and nods in the direction of Archie, who stands there sheepishly, feeling like an intruder on such a tender moment that he knows they're not known to show often. "How are you, man?"

 

"I'm good. Hungry." He rubs his stomach as it growls. "How 'bout you?"

 

"The same. We should head in. The gang will wonder why were taking so long." Jason kisses the top of Betty's head and the adrenaline in her veins fade.

 

"Okay."

_________

 

     "Oh my god..." Is all Cheryl has to say when Veronica gingerly slides the Polaroids across the table to her, she is the first to offer up the contents of her package when they are settled into a large circular booth

 

"This is fucking sick." Kevin's arm slides across Cheryl's shoulders and she leans into his embrace. He whispers words into her ear and she nods mutely.

 

"Let's put these away." Jason sneaks a side-glance at Betty and sees her clutching onto a picture of her sister. She tosses it aside at the sound of his voice and stares out the window into the dark night, illuminated by neon lights.

 

She can see herself in the reflection of the glass, she can see the tears forming in her heartbroken eyes, and for a small, insignificant moment, she thinks she can see Polly.

 

Not Polly in real life. Not the happy, kind, loving Polly that had once existed in the safety of her arms. No, she sees the Polly in those pictures... scared, alone, and in danger.

 

"We should turn these into the police." Veronicas voice is soft, adaptive to the atmosphere of the booth."This person is obviously insane and is toying with us. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to end up in a ditch somewhere. _No_ _offense_."

 

"That is the most idiotic thing I've ever heard, Veronica! What is Sheriff Keller going to do? He's an imbecile! _No_ _offense_." Cheryl peeks her head out from the safety of Kevin's broad shoulder. "If anything, we solve this goddamn case ourselves."

 

"But where do we start?" Jason asks. A troubled look overtakes his handsome features and suddenly he looks like a movie star from 1950s Hollywood. 

 

"I suggest we start with Polly." Jughead answers. "We find out what anything and everything we can about her while she was alive and even now that she's not. I'm not a psychologist but the way he killed her... it seemed personal."

 

Veronica nods her head. "Yeah. It takes a lot of effort to strangle someone. Especially if they're fighting back. I wonder..."

 

"What?" Betty sees the look Veronica has in her eyes. She's piecing something together in her head.

 

"Well... its a long shot but... we all know the Police department isn't quite..." she searches for the word for it.

 

"Competent?" Jughead answers.

 

"Yes! They aren't exactly competent. So what if they missed something? I mean Polly was obviously fighting back, there's evidence enough in those pictures." Everything makes sense in Veronica's head but the people around her look at her like she's a loon.

 

"Spit it out already!" Cheryl's words seem to have no effect on Veronica as she tries to remember anyone in her contacts who could help.

 

"Well, what I was thinking was that if Polly had fought back, then some of his DNA could've been caught underneath her fingernails. I know a guy who could analyze the samples and run them through a database. It'd be a process but we could find out who the killer is." Veronica's family private eye could easily find something for them.

 

"That could work but what if they don't have the DNA is their database? Won't it be for nothing?" Jason says.

 

"No, because then it eliminates a lot of people. It could eliminate everyone in Riverdale with a criminal history." Veronica looks pointedly at Cheryl, thinking back to their little talk about the Serpents. "It could prove that none of the Serpents are guilty."

 

"Or, it could prove that they are." Cheryl offers.

 

"Either way, we'll be closer to solving this." Kevin continues to rub circles on her shoulders.

 

"Okay, that settles it. I'll call Tinsely tomorrow." Veronica says. "What do you think, Jughead?"

 

"Cheryl, what did you guys get?" Jughead needs to see all evidence before he makes a verdict.

 

"We were sent pictures, too. Whoever this is, they have eyes everywhere." Jason distributes Polaroids similar to the Jones' and waits for their reactions.

 

Each grab ones of themselves and start to look them over.

 

"These are from the Pep Rally." Archie says. He flashes a picture of Veronica in the ending position of her dance.

 

"Who the hell invi-" Veronica elbows Jughead in the side to stop the rude words from coming out of his mouth.

 

"And in the Blossom Gardens." Another picture shows Jason and Betty smiling as they spend their leisure walking through the lush gardens.

 

"And at the Pembrooke." Jughead scoffs when he sees pictures of Veronica and himself walking into the Pembrooke.

 

"Station, too." Kevin tosses a photo of him and his father in the pile at the center of the circular table.

 

Veronica spots another photo buried beneath the others. Several teens sit around a campfire with solemn faces. Her blood runs cold and she can feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise.

 

"He was in the woods, too." She says in disgust.

 

"There's a note on the back." Kevin points out. "What does it say?"

 

She flips picture over and on the back, the same chicken-scratch handwriting that wrote her own note, now writes:

 

"So, the 'Riverdale Mystery Gang' has now decided to look for me? And what, pray tell, will you find that I have not already given you? I'll be watching you very closely, waiting for your next move. "

 

"This sick fuck is teasing us." Cheryl spits.

 

Jughead Jones is not one to be played around with.

 

"Whoever this is, is basically telling us to fuck off because we aren't smart enough to figure this out without his help." Jughead sneers. He slams his hands against the table, greatly startling its occupants. "That's it. We're finding this asshole."

 

Archie Andrew hears the conviction in his words and trembles. He sounds and looks a lot like Chic when he's mad. If his brother weren't so good at these kinds of things, he might've been afraid for him.

 

"There's one more thing." Betty says and the attention transfers to her.

 

“One more thing?”

 

"I have a brother." She blurts.

 

"What?" Jason distinctly remembers that there was only two Cooper children in Betty's family. "That doesn't make sense, Betty."

 

"Look for yourself." Betty takes out another package of the same variety as theirs, tossing it into the pile.

 

Archie tries his best to be only discretely surprised as the rest of the table takes turn passing around the document. He nearly chokes on the vanilla milkshake he's sipping when Jughead speaks.

 

"Charles Smith." Jughead reads aloud. He scans the document down to where Mrs. Coopers name is printed in a small font. "The father's name is taken out."

 

His eyes flick back to the boy at the corner of the page. "And based on this photo, it's not Mr. Cooper. This must be another clue."

 

“Can I see that?” Veronica takes the photo from Jughead and she knows that she has seen this boy somewhere.

 

“What are you thinking?” Jughead asks.

 

“I know this kid.” Veronica can feel the solution to where she’s seen this kid before on the tip of her tongue. She thinks back to every event she could have ever been in where she could’ve ran into this boy. The table watch es her as she thinks.

 

“...Oh!” She knows exactly where she’s seen this boy! She pulls her wallet out the purse that rests between her and Jughead. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this before! It’s so obvious!”

 

“What is it, Veronica?” Jughead sees the wallet she pulls out and as she flips through the photos she keeps in there, he becomes more confused.

 

In the end, she pulls out the picture given to her for her eight birthday. “He looks exactly like you!”

 

She does a side by side comparison of the two boys and everyone at the table besides Jughead and Archie (weirdly). The two boys could’ve been twins if not for the icy blue eyes given to Charles.

 

“So then... the missing father could be...” Jughead and Betty’s eyes meet and a thousand unsaid words and feelings are exchanged.

 

"But why would the killer send this?" Kevin asks before anyone else has the chance to recover from the news. "What does the possible love child of FP Jones and Alice Cooper have to do with any of this?"

 

"Maybe he's threatening you." Archie suggests. "Maybe he's threatening to expose your family or something."

 

Jughead doesn't know why, but he has a deep-seated feeling of mistrust when it comes to Archie. "That's too simple for a man who follows us everywhere we go and still hasn't been caught."

 

Archie tries again to dissuade him. "Or maybe it's just simple enough to work?"

 

"No." Jughead says. "This is a trap."

 

"I'll send for my private eye." Veronica decides.

________

 

They all go home that night with the knowledge that someone, somewhere is watching them closely. Monitoring their every move, their every word, their every breath. Watching them to see what they'll do next.

 

The next morning, Jason Blossom sits and eats breakfast with his family. His sister is unusually quiet, his mother wears a tight smile as she sips something Jason knows isn't just orange juice, and his father reads the morning's paper.

 

The headline reads:

 

" _Riverdale_ _Teen_ , _Brutally_ _Murdered_ "

 

Jason sees a picture of Midge Klump, Moose's girlfriend, smiling on the front page. He didn't know her awfully well, but he had known enough about her to know that she didn't deserve what happened to her.

 

He looks down at his bowl of oatmeal, maple syrup, and raspberries. The syrup swirls with mashed up raspberries, creating the illusion of blood.

 

He doesn't feel like eating anymore.

__________

 

Veronica is up and watching the local news station by the time Jughead finally wakes up and stalks out of their newly shared bedroom.

 

"Midge Klump, a 16 year-old student at Riverdale High, was brutally murdered last night while she was strolling through the woods, an activity her parents described as 'something she often did to clear her mind.' The body was found by local hunters who, in an interview, say a tall hooded figure was spotted near the site, but fled the scene before they could stop them. Further details are yet to be released by the Riverdale Sheriffs department but a conference has alrea-"

 

The TV shuts off with a click and Veronica lays her head back against the couch, closing her eyes. She's had a strong headache since the moment she woke up and discovered they were out of coffee.

 

"You okay?" He comes over to the back of couch and slouches over her, scanning her face.

 

"We're out of coffee." She doesn't open her eyes until he starts to chuckle from above her.

 

"My poor wife." He leans down to kiss her chastely upon her lips. She pouts when he pulls back.

 

"Did you know her?" Veronica saw the recognition in his eyes when he saw Midge's face on the television.

 

He had, in fact, dated her for several weeks during freshmen year until Moose had stolen her away. It was a short-lived, awkward, and overall painful experience to recount. Not because he had loved her, but because he had _believed_ he loved her. Looking back at it, they had both rushed into it all too quickly.

 

"Yeah." He says simply. "I knew her."

_____

 

     "Do you want to talk about last night?" Jason asks Betty quietly, stroking the length of her arm. He knows how much touch can support her in times like this.

 

They lay together on a bed in Betty's hideout, a small guest house that lays at the edge of the Cooper property where they had recently found themselves spending a lot of time in. She is spooned into his side against his broad chest and her fingers drag patterns across his shirt.

 

"What do you mean?" She looks at him, but doesn't quite meet his eyes. “If you’re talking about the Charles and Jughead and FP thing, I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t imagine what my mother was thinking.”

 

"I mean with Archie. You looked frightened last night when you came to Pop's." Jason sees the same wrinkle appear in her brow.

 

"How long have you known him?" Asks Betty.

 

Jason takes a moment to reflect. "... probably since that one company Christmas party a few years ago. His dad owns Andrew construction and they had just partnered with us so they didn't have to claim bankruptcy. I think he had an older brother but something came up and he couldn't come. I'd forgotten his name back then but Cheryl went off and danced with him."

 

"Last night... he was by the side of the road, in the dark, panting and sweaty and covered in blood." She thinks back to the curiosity of the situation.

 

"Blood?"

 

"Yeah, but... I don't think it was his own blood. As far as I could tell, he wasn't wounded, and then when I asked him about it, he got all defensive and turned the question back on me." Betty's eyes narrow into slits as she becomes more and more suspicious of the boy.

 

"Do you think it's him?"

 

Betty frowns slightly. "It couldn't be. He came after Polly was murdered and if they'd already discovered Midge's body, then it couldn't have been him. Dinner with us gives him an alibi."

 

"You're too stressed about this, Betty. It's not your fault, you know." Jason sees the cute little dimple that forms in her chin when she frowns.

 

"I don't blame mys-" Betty starts to sit up, ready to defend herself.

 

"Yes, you do. And you need to stop that. It can't be good for you, carrying all that weight." Jason stops her, pulling her back down into him.

 

Betty looks up into Jason's eyes and is struck suddenly with the feeling of bliss.

 

"I know." She agrees, adjusting herself so she's propped up on one elbow, leaning over him. "I'm just... being me again. Sometimes I don't even know how you put up with me."

 

"Don't say that." He says firmly. "Even if I have to tell you a million times until you believe me, Betty, I'll always tell you this... you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you, Bets, with everything I am."

 

He caresses the softness of her cheek, trailing down her body slowly, and upon teacher her hips, pulls her in closer to him. Their hips connect and he lowers his lips onto hers. He is gentle as he takes the lead, careful not to scare her off by seeming too eager. They've done this before but every time feels different. New.

 

Instinctively, they meld together as one.

__________

 

     The life of another Riverdale teen had come to an end. The weeks following her death had been as quiet as darkness that settled over the small town. Midge's death was ruled a homicide and her parents scoured the woods everyday for any clues to their only daughters death.

 

The murderer was everywhere and nowhere all at once. He lurked in alley ways and streets, he stalked the woods and the river, and most importantly, he dominated the hearts and souls of Riverdale.

 

The DNA underneath Polly’s fingernails is acquired easily enough thanks to Kevin and his spare set of keys that let them into the evidence room. Veronica sends for her family investigator, Tinsely, and has him take the samples for analyzation.

 

At the end of nearly a month of nothing, Veronica and Jughead hear back from him. Or rather, his family. As it so happens, the night Tinsely picked up the samples from the Joneses was the night he mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

 

His wife assumed he was on a case and couldn’t contact him but recently, she found it weird that he hadn’t made any attempts to contact her. She files a missing person report and just like that, the evidence and any leads the Gang has on the killer vanishes into thin air.

Lost and confused, the Gang searches for any semblance of a clue and they start in the first place Jughead suggests.

 

They search Polly’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, your loving author is updating late. Hope you like this chapter, comment what you think should happen next!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just an AU fanfic that has been clawing at the back of my mind for quite some time now. I really hope that you guys like it and if you do (or don’t) please comment and give me some feedback!


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